Complete the Streets News s2

Complete the Streets News 7/19/2005

New Complete Streets Website Launched!

A new complete streets website is up and ready for viewing! Visit www.completestreets.org to learn just about everything you need to know about the burgeoning Complete the Streets movement. The site provides basic background on complete streets through frequently-asked questions and articles. It pulls together a wide variety of resources for citizens and planners pursuing complete streets policies, including a listing of places that are already building complete streets. And it includes tools you can use today to start talking about complete streets: a power-point presentation, and a tri-fold brochure. Special thanks to America Bikes, Smart Growth America, the League of American Bicyclists, and the Thunderhead Alliance for their technical assistance and contributions of content. Please visit and let us know what you think!

Other recent complete streets developments:

US Conference of Mayors Endorses Complete Streets

On June 13th, 2005, The United States Conference of Mayors passed a resolution in support of a Complete Streets agenda. "Complete Streets" is a vision of a "seamless network of on-street bicycling and walking facilities, trails and transit connecting homes, jobs, schools, shops, families and friends."

At its 73rd Annual Meeting, the organization -- led by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Des Moines Mayor Frank Crownie -- urged Congress and the Administration to require state transportation departments and metropolitan planning organizations to adopt Complete Streets policies and called upon the U.S. Department of Transportation to support such efforts through best practices, technical assistance, and other means.

The mayors, with help from Kevin McCarty of the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), included the Complete Streets directives in a broader resolution dealing with renewal of the Nation's current transportation law, TEA-21.

-from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking Illinois Complete Streets bill

Hopes for a statewide complete streets law in Illinois died for this year when the measure languished in committee in the House. On April 14 th , the Illinois State Senate had passed a complete streets measure. State Senate Bill 508 would direct IDOT to better accommodate bikes and pedestrians in their roadway designs, through policy changes and training on bike/ped design issues. The League of Illinois Bicyclists plans to keep pushing for complete streets in future legislative sessions.

Federal Complete Streets Amendment Comes Up Short in Senate Vote

As you know, efforts to get complete streets into the federal transportation bill were unsuccessful, but we did have the first-ever floor vote on the concept. A “Safe and Complete Streets” amendment introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D- IA) was defeated in a floor vote, 53-44 in the US Senate, on Wednesday May 11th during debate of the reauthorization of the federal transportation bill. The amendment would have required states and large Metropolitan Planning Organizations to adopt policies to build ‘complete streets’ that accommodate all road users, including bicyclists and pedestrians.

“There is nothing in current practice that requires State departments of transportation or metropolitan planning organizations to integrate in their planning upfront for bike paths and sidewalks when they are planning highways,” Harkin said in explaining his amendment. “That is what we always seem to be doing-- we'll fix it up and add something later on. That always costs more money. What this amendment does is it says: Let's have them at the initial planning stage integrate into their planning sidewalks and bike paths.”

The America Bikes coalition generated hundreds of calls in support of the amendment, and support was broad – during floor debate Senator Harkin held up a placard with a list of organizations that submitted letters in support, including AARP, America Bikes, America Walks, American Heart Association, American Planning Association, American Public Health Association, American Society of Landscape Architects, Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Natural Resources Defense Council, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Surface Transportation Policy Project.

Media Mentions

Time magazine: The cover story of the June 6th edition of Time magazine included a reference to complete streets in an article about how Americans need to get moving to get fit.

Planning magazine included complete streets in its special Transportation issue in May. Read the full article and sidebars at the new complete streets website. We’ve also caught a few references in newspapers, including the Indianapolis Star-Tribune on May 29th:

“Another broader approach is called "Complete Streets," which has been adopted in a few states and cities. "What I'd really like to see is Indianapolis embrace the concept of complete streets, so that when roads are redesigned or reconstructed, they are designed to accommodate all users," says Connie Schmucker, executive director of the Indiana Bicycle Coalition.”

Conference Presentations:

Members of the National Complete the Streets steering committee have been giving presentations about the concept around the country. Andy Clarke presented at the Florida Pro-Bike/Pro-Walk conference in Tampa, and at Velo City in Dublin Ireland, where a French representative vowed to adopt the phrase! Barbara McCann made presentations at the American Planning Association/American Society of Landscape Architects legislative meeting, and at the National Institute of Environmental Health Conference on Obesity and the Environment, both in Washington DC.