What are Complete Streets?
Complete Streets are planned and built to meet the needs of all road users: pedestrians, wheelchair users, bicyclists, car drivers, and those using public transportation.
Complete Streets feature all or most of the following:
- Sidewalks
- Bike lanes
- Wide shoulders
- Bus lanes
- Raised crosswalks
- Pedestrian refuge medians
- Count down crosswalk timers
Complete Streets are important because they improve safety, encourage active transportation use, create livable communities, and increase property values and economic stability in an area.
Some states and communities, including Columbia, have passed Completes Streets legislation, but that is not the case in most areas of the US. Roadways are still being built that are unsafe for those on foot, bicycle, or transit.
The Complete Streets Act of 2009
consists of pending legislation in the U.S. House and Senate, which defines effective complete streets policies and directs state DOTs to adopt such policies within two years of enactment of the bill.
PedNet members: Please use the following link to contact our representatives in Congress (in Columbia, that’s Sen. Kit Bond and Sen. Claire McCaskill, and Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer) to ask them to support these bills.
