Complete the Streets News s1

Complete the Streets News

7/11/2007 www.completestreets.org

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!

COMPLETE STREETS POLICY PROGRESS  California complete streets bill moves ahead with support from the Sacramento Bee  Express support for Illinois SB 314!  Climate change bill passes House committee CAMPAIGN NEWS  National Complete Streets Coalition gets major grant  Talking complete streets  Complete streets advocacy from across the board COMPLETE STREETS NEWS  Hawaii AARP battles for pedestrian safety  Decatur, GA citizens support complete streets concept  Complete streets could better Jackson Hole intersection  Visions of complete streets for new NYC official  Police try to bar wheelchair user from incomplete street  San Francisco improves streets with audible signals  Incomplete streets limit commuting options RESOURCES  New paper provides transit agencies with complete streets checklist COMPLETE STREETS QUOTES

COMPLETE STREETS POLICY PROGRESS

California complete streets bill moves ahead with support from the Sacramento Bee

Today was a big day for the AB 1358, the California complete streets bill, as it made its way through the Local Government Committee of the State Senate by a 3-2 vote. Testifying on behalf of the bill were K.C Butler, CBC Executive Director, CBC lobbyist Justin Fanslau, and Chris Morfas from the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality District. Opposition testimony came from the League of California Cities and the County of San Diego, though their opposition is said to be related to specific concerns about the bill, not to the concept of complete streets. The next step will be a vote in the Senate Appropriations committee before the bill heads to the Senate floor.

The editorial board of the Sacramento Bee newspaper came out strongly in favor of the bill last week in a well-written editorial, which questioned the nearly party-line passage in the State Assembly, with most Republicans opposed. “This is mystifying. Last time we checked, Republicans walked on two legs and occasionally rode bikes. Why the opposition to this bill?” The editorial called for bi-partisan support, citing projected increases in the elderly population, the safety of children at play or en route to school, and the overall low cost of implementation. Read it here.

Express support for Illinois SB 314!

The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is asking people in Illinois to write Governor Blagojevich to urge him to sign SB 314, the statewide complete streets bill that has passed the House and Senate. Click here for a draft letter and more information on where to send it. For more information on the bill itself, please refer back to the June 14, 2007, issue of the newsletter.

Climate change bill passes House committee

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee passed an Energy and Climate Bill, H.R. 2701, which supports expanded use of commuter rail, alternative fuels, and federal money for the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program – and it includes a “Sense of the Congress” statement endorsing complete streets. As committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) stated, “Each of these [provisions] is an individual modest step but, added up, it’s significant.”

CAMPAIGN NEWS

National Complete Streets Coalition gets major grant!

The Harvest Foundation has announced its plan to award a $1.56 million grant to the National Complete Streets Coalition and other allies! The funds will be used for an innovative three-year initiative designed to improve quality of life and economic vitality in Martinsville/Henry County Virginia by improving the walking and bicycling infrastructure. "This proposal represents a new direction in philanthropic support - transportation investment. It also emphasizes how foundations begin to support strategies that stimulate community change at multiple levels," says Richard Killingsworth, Executive Director of the Harvest Foundation. Partner organizations include BikeWalk Virginia, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, and the League of American Bicyclists. For more on this, check out our news release and the article posted on Planetizen.

Talking complete streets

On Tuesday July 10th, the Active Living Resource Center held a web seminar, or webinar, featuring Thunderhead’s Complete Streets Campaign Coach Dominic Liberatore introducing complete streets, covering policies, programs, and ideas for local organizations to get involved and make a stronger presence for themselves.

Andy Clarke of the LAB made a presentation to AARP state advocates, and Tim Blumenthal represented the Coalition at a large AARP Diversity conference held in Los Angeles.

Complete streets advocacy from across the board

As “new” and “progressive” as ideas of cyclocommuting and complete streets may seem to some, others couldn’t imagine a life without them. This article from the The Politico profiles National Complete Streets Coalition steering committee member Andy Clarke and takes a closer look at the philosophy and some of the history behind such groups as the League of American Bicyclists, Critical Mass, International Mountain Bicycling Association, Bikes Belong, and the America Bikes Coalition.

COMPLETE STREETS NEWS

Hawaii AARP battles for pedestrian safety

The Hawaii legislature has sent SB 1191, a pedestrian safety funding bill to Governor Linda Lingle, but she has threatened to veto it. The bill calls for $3 million to redesign intersections and crosswalk – a measly sum when compared to the hundreds of millions spent on highways annually. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel. The state AARP office and other organizations are holding rallies in front of the capitol and gaining support through letters from the public, and the Hawaiian Legislature has also stated it plans to override the Governor’s veto if necessary. Read more in the Honolulu Advertiser and also letters to the editor.

Decatur, GA citizens support complete streets concept

Planners in Decatur, GA surveyed residents to gauge their support for complete streets, including measures such as speed restrictions and narrower lanes. Sixty-one percent said they were in favor of such measures. A complete streets provision is expected to be part of the upcoming Community Transportation Plan. More news is to come upon the Commission’s receiving the plan.

Complete streets could better Jackson Hole intersection

As noted in the May newsletter, Jackson Hole, WY has passed legislation putting complete streets at the top of the town’s five-year plan. This could prove to be very helpful to calm the large volumes of traffic that pass through the area, especially in the summer tourist months, and to redesign one intersection especially notorious for being a cycling hazard. But how can all this be done in an area which attracts people with such various interests? Read some of the ideas and examples taken from car-loving Germans and other Europeans discussed here on the Jackson Hole News & Guide. Visions of complete streets for new NYC official

New York City’s new transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, has made it her mission to push progressive ideas such as greener approaches to design and congestion pricing – and she supports complete streets implementation in the Big Apple. Sadik-Khan wants to change the mind set of the Department and has started to do so by employing advocates Jon Orcutt, Andy Willy-Schwartz, and Bruce Shaller, who share visions similar to hers. Click here for a full posting of this by Crain’s New York on Streetsblog.

Police try to bar wheelchair user from incomplete street

When cities do not have complete streets, those without automobiles are sometimes forced into the street. According to CenterLines, the newsletter from the National Center for Bicycling and Walking, and The Milwaukee Channel, so was the case with wheelchair user Andrew Schneider when he took to the street to get to his home on a road without sidewalks. Called to the scene by concerned drivers, a police officer suggested Schneider should not be on the street, and gave him a ticket for “non- cooperation.” Schneider plans to fight the citation on the premise that access to public right-of-way is a civil right intended for all. Read the complete article here.

San Francisco improves streets with audible signals

The City by the Bay announced plans to put $1.6 billion into audible pedestrian signals at 80 high-volume intersections by 2010, an act which comes after a rise in pedestrian deaths in the city over past years. The signals will be more easily located by blind pedestrians due to their vibrating buttons and low locator tones. In addition to audibly signaling when it is safe to cross, they will also recite street name information and remaining safe crossing time at the extended touch of a button. For more information, read the original article from CenterLines and the Examiner.

Incomplete streets limit commuting options

According to the results of recent Census Data in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, most Atlantans drive alone to work – but rather than attributing this to Americans’ love affair with the car, the experts quoted in the article attribute this to the lack of options in the region. For more on this and to see lists of cities where commuters use the most or least alternative forms of transportation, read the full article.

RESOURCES

New paper provides transit agencies with complete streets checklist

The Nashville Complete Streets Peer Workshop Report is now available online, highlighting presentations held in May from Barbara McCann, Coordinator of the National Complete Streets Coalition; Scott Windley, Accessibility Specialist and PROW Team Leader for the United States Access Board; and Adetokunbo Omishakin, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for the Nashville Planning Department. Also contained in an appendix (Section III.B.) of the report of the roundtable discussion is a Complete Streets for Transit Checklist from Ron Kilcoyne, General Manager of the Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority in Connecticut. It contains key points of what not to forget and what to take advantage of when designing transit routes and stops. Read the entire report here. The workshop was sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association and the federal Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program.

COMPLETE STREETS QUOTES

“This law strikes a courageous blow at the ailing paradigm of our current transportation system which does not accommodate the more than 30% of Americans who cannot drive." --Dominic J. Liberatore, Complete Streets Campaign Coordinator for the Thunderhead Alliance, commenting on the recent success of the Bicycle Coalition Greater Philadelphia in getting a statewide complete streets bill in Pennsylvania.