Complete streets

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Introduction

Complete Streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities are able to safely move along and across a complete street.

Complete streets policies direct transportation planners and engineers to consistently design with all users in mind. These policies have been adopted by a few states (including Oregon, Florida, South Carolina) and a number of regions and cities. Places that adopt complete streets policies ensure that their streets and roads work for drivers, transit riders, pedestrians, and bicyclists, as well as for older people, children, and people with disabilities.

There is no prescription for a complete street, but the following features may be present:

• sidewalks
• bike lanes
• wide shoulders
• plenty of crosswalks
• refuge medians
• bus pullouts or special bus lanes
• raised crosswalks
• audible pedestrian signals
• sidewalk bulb-outs

Complete streets improve safety. A Federal Highway Administration safety review found that designing the street with pedestrians in mind -- sidewalks, raised medians, better bus stop placement, traffic-calming measures, and treatments for disabled travelers -- all improve pedestrian safety. (1) One study found that installing these features reduced pedestrian risk by 28%. (2)

Complete streets encourage walking and bicycling for health. The National Institutes of Medicine recommends fighting childhood obesity by changing ordinances to encourage construction of sidewalks, bikeways, and other places for physical activity. (3)

A report of the National Conference of State Legislators found that the most effective policy avenue for encouraging bicycling and walking is complete streets. (4)

One study found that 43% of people with safe places to walk within 10 minutes of home met recommended activity levels, while just 27% of those without safe places to walk were active enough. (5)

Complete streets help ease transportation woes. About one-third of Americans do not drive. (6) Complete streets help provide safe access for people who use wheelchairs, have vision impairments, and for older people and children.

More than one quarter of all trips are one mile or less – and almost half are under five miles. Most of those trips are now made by car. Streets that provide travel choices give people the option to avoid traffic jams and increase the overall capacity of the transportation network.

Complete streets make fiscal sense. Integrating sidewalks, bike lanes, transit amenities, and safe crossings into the initial design of a project spares the expense of retrofits later.

[edit] References

This original page is adapted, with permission, from informational materials developed by the National Complete Streets Coalition [1]. This information is in the public domain, and is not copyrighted material.

(1) B.J. Campbell, Charles V. Zegeer, Herman H. Huang, and Michael J. Cynecki. A Review of Pedestrian Safety Research in the United States and Abroad Jan. 2004, Federal Highway Administration, Publication number FHWA-RD-03-042

(2) King, MR, Carnegie, JA, Ewing, R. Pedestrian Safety Through a Raised Median and Redesigned Intersections, Transportation Research Board 1828, 2003) pp 56-66

(3) Koplan, J.P., Liverman, C.T., & Kraak, V.I. (Eds.). Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth. (2004). Preventing childhood obesity: Health in the balance. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine. Retrieved December 7, 2004 from http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11015.html.

(4) Teach Robbins, L., Morandi, L. Promoting Walking and Biking: the Legislative Role. NCSL, December 2002. access: www.activelivingleadership.org/pdf_file/Promoting_Walking_and_biking.pdf

(5) Powell, K.E., Martin, L., & Chowdhury, P.P. Places to walk: convenience and regular physical activity. American Journal of Public Health, 93, (2003): 1519-1521.

(6) Highway Statistics, 2001