If you've been keeping up with Fresh Energy's Transportations Connections Department, you've probably heard about its push for a state Complete Streets policy. The measure aims to make streets safer and more accessible through various planning measures. This includes sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks, and shoulders. But as far as understanding how exactly these road changes would equal improved safety and a cleaner environment, it's a little bit difficult to get from point A to point B--no transportation pun intended. I didn't have a clear understanding of it, myself, until I actually saw it last week.
Complete Streets means that our roads are designed and operated to be safe and accessible for pedestrians, transit riders, bicyclists, and drivers - all users, regardless of age or ability. Why is this important? Because too often we build roads that simply aren't safe for pedestrians, people with disabilities, bicyclists, transit riders, and older drivers. Everyone is impacted by "incomplete" streets, which lead to more injuries, fatalities, and very real barriers in our transportation system.
Last Thursday, 40 people came out for an introductory meeting that hailed the beginning of the Minnesota Complete Streets Coalition. Complete Streets means that our streets and roadways are designed and operated to be safe and accessible for pedestrians, transit riders, bicyclists, and drivers-all users, regardless of age or ability.
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.
Posted by: Ethan Fawley in walking, transportation, transit, policy, planning, legislation, land use, global warming, driving, biking on
Jun 16, 2009
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.
Posted by: Ethan Fawley in walking, transportation, transit, rail, policy, planning, land use, global warming, electric cars, driving, commuting, biking on
May 27, 2009
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.
A recent
New York Times article chronicles the German suburb Vauban, which was built to be predominately car free. The article is accompanied by an
interesting discussion among experts about the potential of a car-free American suburb.
The general consensus:
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.
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development took a huge step forward by announcing the joint Sustainable Communities Initiative.
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