Complete Streets

The latest developments, events, and resources from the National Complete Streets Coalition:

Announcing the best Complete Streets policies of 2013

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Livermore, CALivermore, CA is included among the top of The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2013.

A total of 83 communities adopted Complete Streets policies in the United States in 2013. These laws, resolutions and planning and design documents encourage and provide for the safe access to destinations for everyone, regardless of age, ability, income or ethnicity, and no matter how they travel.

The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2013, released today by Smart Growth America’s National Complete Streets Coalition examines and scores each Complete Streets policy enacted in 2013. The report outlines ten ideal elements of a Complete Streets policy and scores individual policies based on these ideals. Policy elements refine a community’s vision for transportation, provide for many types of users, complement community needs and establish a flexible approach necessary for an effective Complete Streets process and outcome.

Complete Streets

We can make America's streets safer

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incomplete-street2A mother and her child cross South Cobb Drive just south of Austell Road in South Cobb County, GA. Photo by Transportation for America via Flickr.

No one should have to risk their life just to cross the street.

If you’ve ever walked along a street with no sidewalk or crossed a road with no crosswalk, you know how dangerous incomplete streets can be. Making these streets safer is often easy and affordable—all it takes is the right approach.

A Complete Streets approach encourages traffic planners and engineers to make roads safer and more efficient for everyone who uses them. Over 600 towns, states and regions already have a Complete Streets policy in place and now, a new bill in Congress could bring this approach to communities across the country.

Safer streets work better for everyone: Ask Congress to pass the Safe Streets Act today.

On Friday, Senators Mark Begich and Brian Schatz introduced the Safe Streets Act of 2014. The new bill mirrors legislation introduced in the House in June,  and would encourage communities to include safety improvements in transportation project planning. 

Complete Streets

New Senate bill would make America’s streets safer and more accessible

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Kailua, HIStudents in Kailua, HI, walk along a street with Complete Streets features. A new bill in the Senate would require Complete Streets considerations for federal projects. Photo via Charlier Associates.

Whether you walk, bike, drive or take transit, Complete Streets policies help make sure you travel safely and conveniently, and a new bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would encourage every community in the country to use these strategies.

On Friday, Senators Mark Begich (D-AK) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the Safe Streets Act of 2014 (S. 2004), which would require all new federally-funded transportation projects use a Complete Streets approach to planning, designing and building roads to accommodate the safety and convenience of all users.

Complete Streets

Best Complete Streets Policies of 2013

In 2013, more than 80 communities adopted Complete Streets policies. These laws, resolutions and planning and design documents encourage and provide for the safe access to destinations for everyone, regardless of age, ability, income or ethnicity, and no matter how they travel. Nationwide, a total of 610 jurisdictions now have Complete Streets policies in place. Today, 27 states as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have Complete Streets policies. Fifty-one regional planning organizations, 48 counties and 482 municipalities in 48 states also have adopted such policies.

Complete Streets

The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2014

National Complete Streets Coalition examines and scores Complete Streets policies each year, comparing adopted policy language to the ideal. Ideal policies refine a community’s vision for transportation, provide for many types of users, complement community needs, and establish a flexible project delivery approach necessary for an effective Complete Streets process and outcome. In 2014, more then 70 jurisdictions adopted Complete Streets policies.

Complete Streets

National Complete Streets Coalition to unveil top Complete Streets policies of 2013

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Indianapolis, INIndianapolis, IN had the highest scoring Complete Streets policy of 2012. Photo by Ian Freimuth via Flickr.

More than 80 communities passed Complete Streets policies in 2013, and on February 18, Smart Growth America’s National Complete Streets Coalition will unveil which ones were the best.

Each year, the Coalition analyzes Complete Streets policies enacted in the past year. These laws, resolutions, executive orders, policies and planning and design documents encourage and provide safe access to destinations for everyone, regardless of age, ability, income, ethnicity or how they travel.

Join us for an online event to celebrate this year’s best policies and to hear how communities everywhere can create streets that are safer and more convenient for everyone who uses them.

Complete Streets

Rina Cutler encourages cooperation between city and state DOTs at annual Complete Streets dinner

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Rina CutlerRina Cutler addresses the National Complete Streets Coalition’s annual dinner.

Friends and partners of the National Complete Streets Coalition gathered in Washington, DC last night to celebrate the Complete Streets movement, to discuss the Coalition’s work over the last year and to recognize the annual support from the Coalition’s 50 partner organizations.

The evening’s featured guest was Rina Cutler, Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities for the city of Philadelphia. In her remarks, Cutler highlighted Philadelphia’s strategies for implementing Complete Streets. The idea of Complete Streets has grown from a minor issue endorsed by a small corps of local advocates into what Cutler described as a “citywide revolution” with widespread support.

Complete Streets

How do you shovel a bike lane? New resources for maintaining Complete Streets in snowy weather

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nyc-dot-bike-lane-snowCrews clear snow from a pedestrian and bicycle path in New York City last week. Photo by New York City Department of Transportation via Twitter.

A large swath of the country is still digging out from the most recent round of winter snow storms, deploying plows, snow blowers, shovels, sand, salt and even cheese to keep people moving. Many of these strategies focus on keeping roads clear for drivers. What about for people who walk, bicycle or rely on transit?

Complete Streets is a process for funding, planning, designing, building, operating and minting community streets so that travel by all modes is safe and comfortable. In climates where snowfall is expected, Complete Streets mean thoughtful roadway design and appropriate plans and policies for snow and ice management for all users.

Complete Streets

You are invited to the fourth annual Complete Streets dinner

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Rina_CutlerRina Cutler, Philadelphia’s Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities, will be our featured guest

The National Complete Streets Coalition will host its annual dinner next month—and we hope you’ll join us!

This year, we’re honored to have Rina Cutler, Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities for Philadelphia, as our featured guest. Hailed as a Public Works Leader of the Year and one of COMTO’s Women Who Move the Nation, she recently led efforts to develop Philadelphia’s Complete Streets Design Handbook, a model for Complete Streets implementation. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter appointed Ms. Cutler to her current position in 2008, where she is responsible for coordination and oversight of all transportation functions and several city agencies.

The National Complete Streets Coalition’s annual dinners bring together the top minds working for Complete Streets across the country, including our national Steering Committee members, our well-known corps of workshop instructors, staff from our Partner organizations—and you! Together, we’ll celebrate recent Complete Streets successes nationally and locally and forge friendships with colleagues and peers over informal discussion.

We’ll be dining on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 in Washington, DC’s Woodley Park neighborhood. Seats are available for $150. Head table seats are available for $200. Click here to reserve your tickets online. Current and new Complete Streets Partners receive a significant discount, and Partners at the Silver level and above are eligible to receive complimentary seats.

Complete Streets

Completing Our Streets: Strategies

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AARP and Complete Streets in HawaiiAARP Volunteers rally for Complete Streets in Hawaii. Photo by Jackie Boland.

This post is the eighth and final in our twice-monthly series of excerpts from Completing Our Streets: The Transition to Safe and Inclusive Transportation Networks, the new book from Island Press by Barbara McCann, founder of the National Complete Streets Coalition. The book discusses the keys to the movement’s success, and how places and practitioners in the United States are tackling the challenges of putting a new transportation paradigm into daily practice.

A decade ago, in early December 2003, the term “Complete Streets” was first coined. Today’s excerpt celebrates the many Complete Streets supporters and active Coalition members that helped found the movement and continue to advance the adoption of Complete Streets policies and practices across the country.

All National Complete Streets Coalition Platinum Partners and those who upgrade to the next Partnership level will receive a signed copy of Completing Our Streets. Become a Coalition Partner today!

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