COMPLETE THE STREETS MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
This monthly newsletter issued by the National Complete Streets Coalition provides a roundup of news related to complete streets policies --- policies to ensure that the entire right of way is routinely designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Please pass it around!
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Complete the Streets News
5/21/08
COMPLETE STREETS POLICY PROGRESS
- Rep. Matsui Introduces Complete Streets Bill in US House; Sen. Coleman Signs on in Senate
- Eco-City Alexandria Includes Complete Streets
- Bill Halted in Missouri
- Orlando, FL's Mayor Declares May "Bike to Work Month"
COALITION NEWS
- Trying to Draft a Complete Streets Policy - Or Trying to Successfully Implement One? Help is on the Way!
- American Planning Association Conference Celebrates 100
- Smart Growth America President Speaks at Iowa Smart Conference
- Complete Streets on Capitol Hill
- M-E Companies Joins as a Bronze Partner
- Accessibility Workshop on Rights-of-Way
COMPLETE STREETS NEWS
- Growing Cooler Cites Complete Streets as a Solution to Mitigate Climate Change
- Kirkland, WA Wins EPA Achievement Award
- Health Partnership Recommends Complete Streets
- Washington, DC Looks to Roads as it Expands Transit
- Safe Passing Zone Bill in Connecticut
- Washington, DC's Mean Streets Report
RESOURCES
- Complete Streets in the ITE Journal
- New Research Shows the Importance of Creating a Network
- APTA's Spring 2008 Local Transit Coalition Grant Program
- New Book on Transportation Fairness
- Well-Designed Transportation Makes Great Places
- Guide for Creating Safe and Walkable Communities
COMPLETE STREETS QUOTE
COMPLETE STREETS POLICY PROGRESS
Rep. Matsui Introduces Complete Streets Bill in US House; Sen. Coleman Signs on in Senate
Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA), took an important step for safer, better designed streets on May first by introducing the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2008 into the US House. The bill (H.R. 5951) would make sure that roads built and improved with federal funds safely serve everyone using the roadway - including pedestrians, people on bicycles or those catching the bus, as well as those with disabilities. Read the text of H.R. 5951, a summary of the bill and get action materials on the Federal page.
"Once again, gas prices have hit record highs this week. As American families continue to feel the pain at the pump due to the skyrocketing costs of gasoline, they are driving less and less," said Rep. Matsui. "By diversifying our roadways, we can provide real alternatives to travel by car."
Meanwhile, Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) signed on this week as first Republican co-sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, the Complete Streets Act of 2008 (S. 2686), introduced a few weeks ago by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Thomas Carper (D-DE). This is the first time that comprehensive complete streets bills have been introduced in the House and Senate.
We are looking for Republican co-sponsors for these bills! Write or call your Representative and let us know if you can help us move this piece of legislation forward. Contact stephanie@completestreets.org if you would like to get more involved in this effort.
Eco-City Alexandria Includes Complete Streets
The City of Alexandria, VA in partnership with Virginia Tech's Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, designed a new initiative, Eco-City Alexandria, to guide the city towards being more sustainable. They developed an Eco-City Charter to guide implementation and an Environmental Action Plan, which will be developed after the Charter is approved to establish specific policy objectives and programs. The Eco-City Charter includes transportation principles that echo complete streets:
"The City will provide all its citizens, regardless of age, income, race or ability with safe, efficient, and affordable transportation that prioritizes walking, biking and public transit and discourages single-occupancy vehicles…"
It is expected that the Charter will be finalized in June 2008.
Bill Halted in Missouri
A complete streets bill, H.B. 2206, passed the Missouri House 139-9, but was halted in the Senate because of MoDOT's opposition to the bill. Although MoDOT's research group indicated that the impact of the bill on the MoDOT budget would be $0 (see fiscal analysis), opposition remains because the MoDOT Director stated that the bill is unnecessary. Read the letter from the MoDOT director to the Missouri Bicycle Federation and a background on the bill here.
Orlando, FL's Mayor Declares May "Bike to Work Month"
This year, Orlando's Mayor Buddy Dyer signed an official bike month proclamation on May 5, and it included a complete streets measure. It reads, "WHEREAS, the City of Orlando incorporates Complete Street policies when investing in road improvements to enable safe access for all users, including bicycle lanes, off road trails, and bike parking." You can read the proclamation (doc) and press release. National Bike Month includes Bike-to-Work Day, which was Friday, May 16.
COALITION NEWS
Trying to Draft a Complete Streets Policy - Or Trying to Successfully Implement One? Help is on the Way!
Picture the folks from your community all in one room - planners, traffic engineers, public works directors, community development staff, city commissioners, and stakeholders - all working towards the development or implementation of a complete streets policy. While balancing stakeholder needs is complicated, the Complete Streets Implementation Assistance Program is here to help. A dozen national expert instructors are ready to bring complete streets workshops to your community. This fee-for-service workshop is a hands-on, daylong event that is tailored to your unique needs and priorities. For more information, download a one-page flyer (PDF) or contact Linda Tracy of APBP, 406-880-3880 or Linda@apbp.org.
Workshops are sponsored by the National Complete Streets Coalition in partnership with the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.
American Planning Association Conference Celebrates 100
APA's 100th National Planning Conference in April in Las Vegas, NV, featured several sessions that covered complete streets, including a workshop about integrating health into the planning process with participation by several Coalition members. On Tuesday evening, there was a special session about the new complete streets implementation assistance workshops. The conference hosted over 6,000 participants and more than 300 educational events. Additionally, the U.S. Economic Development Administration filmed an upcoming segment of Economic Development Today, which features APA's CEO, Paul Farmer, FAICP. In this interview, Mr. Farmer stresses the importance of community design and complete streets as an often overlooked assets for spurring economic development. The entire broadcast will be released on June 18 and will be accessible online at http://www.planning.org/eda/. Next year, APA's conference will be held in Minneapolis from April 25-29.
Smart Growth America President Speaks at Iowa Smart Conference
Geoff Anderson, President/CEO of Smart Growth America, spoke last week at the 23rd annual Iowa Smart Economic Development Conference on the connection between economic revitalization and complete streets. There were over 500 participants at the conference, and topics ranged from regional collaboration to skilled workforces. View his slideshow presentation.
Complete Streets on Capitol Hill
Coalition Coordinator Barbara McCann, AARP's representative to the Coalition Debra Alvarez, and Rails-to-Trails' Kevin Mills spoke today at a Congressional briefing sponsored by the Northeast-Midwest Institute designed to highlight the community benefits of complete streets policies. Presentations will be posted on their website.
The Coalition also participated in the Campaign to End Obesity Action Day last week to promote the link between health and complete streets.
M-E Companies Joins as a Bronze Partner
M•E Companies, a management and engineering firm specialized in planning, design, and implementation of public and private infrastructure and building projects, joined as a Complete Streets Partner in early May. The firm strives to stay at the forefront of industry innovations and improvements. "We are committed to infrastructure improvements that enhance communities' quality of life," says M•E Vice President, Mike Ciotola. "We are not only planners and designers, we are users of the infrastructure we help build. This is why we are proud to be a partner of the National Complete Streets Coalition."
Join our growing Partner program! Check out the benefits of joining our Partner program and a list of current Partners.
Accessibility Workshop on Rights-of-Way
The Federal Highway Administration and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals are holding a workshop in Chicago on June 9-10 to provide an overview of the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, which includes the application of accessible pedestrian corridor design elements and intersection design. More information and downloadable resources are available online by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. COMPLETE STREETS NEWS
Growing Cooler Cites Complete Streets as a Solution to Mitigate Climate Change
A new book released by the Urban Land Institute, in partnership with Smart Growth America, documents how changes in land development patterns could help reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. The book specifically recommends complete streets as one of the solutions to provide citizens with alternatives to driving, and recommends that states adopt complete streets policies. Read more about Growing Cooler and order the publication online.
Kirkland, WA Wins EPA Achievement Award
The EPA's Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Award program highlights communities that combine principles of smart growth with the concepts of active aging. The City of Kirkland, won the Achievement Award for its innovative pedestrian-friendly environment programs, and its complete streets policy (adopted in 2006) was cited as a factor in the award. An 80-year old resident of Kirkland said, "Here I can walk to the lake, the senior center, the stores or use public transportation." Read more about why Kirkland won this award, and see the other award winners as well.
Health Partnership Recommends Complete Streets
A collaborative project launched by a group of funders in the health care arena is producing a series of policy briefs to identify high impact approaches that will move us closer to creating healthy people in healthy places. The first of four policy briefs recommends adoption and implementation of complete streets policies to foster safe neighborhoods and communities, as well as recommendations that the built environment encourages physical activity as part of everyday life. Read the Strategy for Enhancing the Built Environment to Support Healthy Eating and Active Living, issued by the Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership.
Washington, DC Looks to Roads as it Expands Transit
While DC Metro is best known for the Metro rail system, the transit agency is planning to dramatically expand its rapid bus service along busy corridors in the region. The rapid bus lines feature limited stop service, technology to give them priority at lights, and other features to shave 15 to 20 minutes off of travel time. Metro's planning chief, Nat Bottigheimer, told the Washington Post the service should help spark a shift in the way transportation planners think about traffic - because buses will begin to carry a much larger percentage of the travelers along a road corridor. Read the article in the Washington Post.
Safe Passing Zone Bill in Connecticut
A Hartford Courant editorial (doc) identified a bill introduced in Connecticut that would direct the DOT to improve bicycle and pedestrian access, and would create a safe passing zone of no less than three feet for cars passing bikes. The bill is especially timely because with high gas prices, more residents will be thinking about commuting by bicycle, and safety is a concern. The bill also proposes a Share the Road public awareness campaign. Read the text of the safety bill.
Washington, DC's Mean Streets Report
A report released by the Coalition for Smarter Growth identifies suburban areas around the city that are lease safe for walkers. Not surprisingly, one of the primary recommendations to improve the pedestrian environment is implementing complete streets. Read a synopsis of the report or download the full report here.
RESOURCES
Complete Streets in the ITE Journal
John LaPlante and Barbara McCann co-authored an article titled: "Complete Streets: We Can Get There from Here," released in the May 2008 ITE Journal. This feature explains the complete streets movement and explores ways to make urban thoroughfares more pedestrian and bicycle friendly and respectful of the surrounding community while not unduly compromising motor vehicle travel. Download the PDF of the article.
New Research Shows the Importance of Creating a Network
Portland State University professor Jennifer Dill presented research at a Congressional briefing sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation last week that documented how the increase in Portland's bicycle network has been essential to the enormous growth in bicycle travel in the city. The bicycling network - including bike lanes, bicycle boulevards, trails, and other infrastructure - has grown in the city by 250 percent since 1991, and in the same time period counts of bikes across the city's four major bridges has grown by 400 percent. Her research found that streets designed for bicycling are heavily favored by cyclists. Just eight percent of streets in the Portland area have any kind of bicycle facility, but fully half of the bicycle travel is occurring on those streets. Access a full discussion of her findings and a link to her slide show.
APTA's Spring 2008 Local Transit Coalition Grant Program
For the past seven years, the American Public Transportation Association has helped energize grassroots coalitions through its Local Transit Coalition Grant Program. Activities funded include both public education programs and advocacy efforts, and emphasis is given to proposals where grassroots advocacy efforts can help achieve specific state and local public transportation goals. Applications are due May 30, and grants are awarded up to $5,000. Application information and forms are online.
New Book on Transportation Fairness
A recently released book, The Right to Transportation: Moving to Equity, examines the connection between transportation and civil rights and social justice. It takes a closer look at how transportation affects the lives of minority, low-income, elderly, and people with disabilities, and also includes essays on a range of social justice topics. It offers recommendations to move towards greater equity and inclusiveness. The book can be ordered from www.planning.org/APAStore/ and APA members can get a discounted price of $35.95.
Well-Designed Transportation Makes Great Places
The American Institute for Architects Communities by Design project, along with the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota, produced a study authorized by Congress looking closely at the role of design in transportation. The research team studied the benefits of transportation projects that are well designed and promote economic development, public health, safety, and the environment, and enhance aesthetic, architectural, and cultural qualities in community planning. Download a one-page overview of the study (pdf) and read the initial report to Congress.
Guide for Creating Safe and Walkable Communities
The Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety released a new guide, A Resident's Guide for Creating Safe and Walkable Communities, to help residents, parents, community groups, and others make their communities better environments for walking. It includes information, ideas, and references to help residents learn about issues that affect walking conditions; find ways to address or prevent these problems; and promote pedestrian safety. It provides several Community Success Stories that highlight successful community-oriented pedestrian safety projects and programs. Download the Guide, which is available as html and as a PDF file.
COMPLETE STREETS QUOTE
"We have very real challenges facing our country, and they are all interwoven. We now know that we must change our environmental and energy policy, and reduce our impact on the planet. By opening up our roadways to pedestrians and cyclists, we can help ease the congestion on our nation's roads,"
-Representative Doris Matsui, at the introduction of the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2008, H.R. 5951
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National Complete Streets Coalition
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