Thursday, May 26, 2011

Let Congress know that you support Complete Streets

The National Complete Streets Coalition is gathering support for H.R. 1780, the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on May 5 by Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Steven LaTourette (R-OH).  It directs state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to write and adopt Complete Streets policies. H.R. 1780 supports the work of over 200 Complete Streets policies at the local, MPO and state level by ensuring a comprehensive approach across jurisdictions for safe streets for all, regardless of age, ability, or chosen mode of travel.

You can use this easy online tool to send a message to your representatives showing your support for HR 1780. It only takes a minute, I promise!

2 comments:

  1. I follow the Strong Towns blog that recently had a discussion about the difference between Complete Streets and "Complete Roads", the latter being the all-too-typical bike-lane-as-afterthought approach to designing multi-modal infrastructure.

    http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2011/5/16/co-opting-complete-streets.html

    http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2011/5/17/a-complete-road.html

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  2. Though I think the pieces may come down a *little* hard on the engineers(there are definitely some out there who "get it"), you make an important point. Good pedestrian planning is in the details, and spot measures like throwing in a few bike lanes or asking a developer to build sidewalks just infront of their project won't do much for improving a community's overall walkability. It's the fundamental shift away from making moving cars the top priority that really counts.

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