Download the full report (pdf) Traffic fatalities continue to plague communities across the U.S. with an estimated 42,795 people killed in 2022. This trauma is not experienced equally—people walking, people of color, and people in low-income communities are far more likely to be killed. But the most significant danger—especially for people walking, biking, rolling, or … Continued
The City of Chattanooga has taken steps in recent years to address the safety of all road users, but it sought to find a more nimble approach to addressing dangerous street design. Their participation in the Complete Streets Leadership Academy allowed them to deliver a quick-build demonstration project on a Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) … Continued
With a newly adopted Vision Zero plan in place, Metro Nashville joined the Complete Streets Leadership Academy to strengthen partnerships and test out new paths to achieving safer streets. Working together to improve crossings for people walking allowed them to strengthen their relationships with local partners and provide quick, tangible benefits to a community that … Continued
The City of Memphis passed a Complete Streets plan in 2019 to make their streets safer, building on an earlier 2013 policy. But the plan’s non-binding nature combined with the lack of dedicated funding and support produced significant challenges in implementing the policy. Their participation in the Complete Streets Leadership Academy armed them with more … Continued
Smart Growth America, with support from CDC’s Active People, Healthy Nation initiative℠, launched the Complete Streets Leadership Academies in Alaska, California, Connecticut, and Tennessee to equip and train local agencies and state departments of transportation to collaborate, innovate, and commit to making changes together to address safety on these dangerous state-owned roads. Cohorts were selected … Continued
ERWIN’S THRIVING DOWNTOWN ACTIVITY CENTER Location: Erwin, TN Population: 5,910 (2020) Typologies: Retirement, second-home; Traditional main street; Edge Key takeaway: By focusing on attracting investment to its historic downtown, expanding broadband, and improving access to local amenities and commercial areas, Erwin has created a thriving downtown activity center, where residents can safely walk to the … Continued
On October 25, 2019, U.S. Representative Steve Cohen convened a roundtable about Complete Streets in his district, which includes most of Memphis, TN. Local advocates and people from the city, county, and state government attended to discuss the Complete Streets Act of 2019—legislation sponsored by Rep. Cohen—and other ways the federal government could assist communities creating streets that are safer for people biking, walking, or rolling. Below are comments from Sylvia Crum, the Commute Options Program Manager at Innovate Memphis, who spoke during the roundtable.
Between September 2017 and January 2018, the National Complete Streets Coalition worked with 30 transportation professionals from the Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga regions in Tennessee to identify and overcome common barriers to Complete Streets implementation. In the seven months since then, each region has taken steps to move Complete Streets forward in their communities.
Many rural communities in America have been struggling as the economy has changed dramatically over the last few decades, but some of these communities are evolving and finding new ways to adapt. This is a story of how one small mountain town in northeast Tennessee has found new economic opportunity by investing in reliable, high-speed broadband internet to catalyze new growth and development focused in their walkable, historic downtown.
This month, the Complete Streets team returned to Knoxville, TN for the third and final workshop of the Tennessee Consortium Series. Despite the weather’s best efforts (it turns out, a frozen street is not a Complete Street), not even a snowstorm could stop us from convening for two last days of intensive hands-on learning.