Last night, the Hennepin County board unanimously passed a Complete Streets policy (pdf) that "will enhance safety, mobility, accessibility and convenience for all corridor users including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists, commercial and emergency vehicles, and for people of all ages and abilities by planning, designing, operating, and maintaining a network of Complete Streets." Hennepin County joins the City of Rochester as the first two jurisdictions in Minnesota to pass explicit Complete Streets policies. St. Paul has also passed a Complete Streets resolution and will have a full policy in place by the end of the year.
It has been just over 120 days since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus) was signed into law. A big portion of the stimulus dollars went to transportation infrastructure with a focus on "ready-to-go" projects that could begin work quickly. Minnesota received about $600 million and had unprecedented flexibility to use the funds on many types of projects ranging from walking, biking, transit, rail, road repair, and more.
Today, the Federal Railroad Administration released its "High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program Guidance," which will be used to determine the projects that are funded through nearly $8.1 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or stimulus) and this year's appropriations.
Last Thursday, the Minnesota Environmental Partnership hosted the first forum for the 2010 gubernatorial race, and transportation and land use were key issues in the discussion. Two gubernatorial candidates explicitly mentioned (and others echoed the sentiments) the need to finalize the Building Sensible Communities bill as an important part of simultaneously addressing global warming pollution and other quality of life issues such as air pollution, congestion, personal transportation costs, and dwindling open space.
On Rail: The Federal Rail Administration (FRA) is working out the process, criteria, and priorities it will use to award $8 billion in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for high-speed rail projects. Minnesota has been collaborating with Wisconsin and, at a meeting with FRA in Chicago on June 1, the two states stressed the following key messages.
Transportation generated a lot of discussion at the Minnesota Capitol this year. Topics included discussions around transportation-related economic stimulus spending, the need to solve the Twin Cities transit shortfall, the excitement of high-speed rail and new transitways, and some innovative transportation policy ideas. While there were a number of important steps taken to support cleaner transportation choices, there were several pieces left undone.
Americans are in the midst of the longest stretch of reduced driving since the Federal Highway Administration began tracking vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 1970. February--with its 0.9 percent reduction in driving compared with February 2008--marked the 16th straight month that Americans drove less than in the previous year.
Representatives from the Minnesota House and Senate have ironed out an agreement on the details of the state's transportation financing for the next two years. The bill, which has since received bi-partisan support in the full House and Senate and is now awaiting the signature of the governor, offers several good compromise positions that will help buffer cuts to transit, support new rail planning, and begin to rethink land-use planning.
During these challenging economic times, we simply cannot afford to make it harder for people to get to work. Yet, transit systems across the country are facing service cuts and fare increases (CNN reports) because of underperforming funding sources.
President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Department of Transportation Administrator Ray LaHood announced the release of a Strategic Plan for high speed rail today.
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