Last week, the St. Cloud City Council seemed poised to become the 23rd local community in Minnesota to adopt a Complete Streets policy that supports safer roads for everyone. There was strong supportive testimony from the city engineer and planning director. About 20 people at the hearing spoke in support from a variety of viewpoints and there was no direct opposition. The mayor was strongly in favor.

And then, amazingly, the Council failed to adopt the policy on a tied 3-3 vote with one member absent.

Nearly all of the 22 other Complete Streets policies in Minnesota have been approved unanimously. And typically, strong support from the local engineer is good enough for most elected officials who may be concerned that Complete Streets will cost more money or will be redundant to other policies. St. Cloud’s engineer spoke correctly about how Complete Streets doesn’t have to cost more money overall if done smartly. And the planning director talked about how having a single Complete Streets policy would help reduce process, lessen confusion between sometimes-conflicting current policies, and provide something that is more understandable to the public.

Thankfully, the Council is planning to bring the issue back up next week with the hope that a full Council will give the majority needed to approve it. The St. Cloud Times has weighed in with a smart editorial in support of Complete Streets. We hope the Council—with fresh facts and understanding—will strongly support Complete Streets this time.

Photo: AC Johnson

Last week, the St. Cloud City Council failed to adopt a Complete Streets policy that city officials, residents, and the mayor publicly supported. So what happens next?