On Tuesday, the National Complete Streets Coalition hosted our Sixth Annual Complete Streets Dinner at La Tasca, in downtown Washington, DC. The evening assembled over 50 advocates, supporters, partners, and friends to celebrate 10 years as a Coalition and over 845 Complete Streets policies passed at the state, regional, and local level.
Coalition Director Emiko Atherton, Steering Committee Chair Rich Weaver, of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoff Anderson kicked off the evening with welcomes and an introduction of the dinner’s distinguished speaker, Gregory Ballard, former mayor of Indianapolis.
Mayor Ballard shared an inspiring narrative detailing the challenges and rewards of Complete Streets investments made during his eight years as an elected official. The address touched on the importance of investing in trail infrastructure like the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, and the launch of RebuildIndy, an unprecedented initiative to rebuild deteriorating and long-neglected thoroughfares, residential streets, sidewalks, and bridges throughout Marion County.
Following Mayor Ballard’s address was the presentation of the National Complete Streets Coalition’s 10th Anniversary Award. Art Guzzetti, APTA Vice President of Policy, and Governor Parris N. Glendening, President of Smart Growth America’s Leadership Institute, presented the 10th Anniversary Award to Barbara McCann, Director of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Safety, Energy and Environment, honoring her legacy as the founding Executive Director of the Coalition as well as her longstanding commitment to the Complete Streets movement. Honorary awards were also presented to Roger Millar, Deputy Secretary of the Washington Department of Transportation, and Stefanie Seskin, Active Transportation Director for the City of Boston, for their lasting contributions to the Coalition.
The sixth annual Complete Streets Dinner was sponsored by the American Society of Landscape Architects, National Association of Realtors, and MIG | SvR. We were also proud to have partners from many of our Steering Committee members join us at the event, including AARP, AECOM, the American Public Transportation Association, Association of Bicycle and Pedestrian Professionals, Institute of Transportation Engineers, National Association of Realtors, NelsonNygaard, Stantec, and the Washington State Department of Transportation. Coalition partners in attendance included Alta Planning + Design, Gresham, Smith and Partners, Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, Inc., Milone & MacBroom, Inc., Roger Henderson, RK&K, RPM Transportation Consultants, VHB, and Whitman, Requardt & Associates.
