Complete Streets represent a transformative approach to how we plan, design, build, operate, and maintain our streets. It’s about creating streets that are safe and accessible for everyone, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation. This includes pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and transit users alike.
Complete Streets: A Process and an Approach
Complete Streets is more than just a checklist of features or a specific street design; it’s a fundamental shift in perspective. It’s an approach to planning, designing, and building streets that prioritizes safe access for all users. This encompasses pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, and public transportation riders of all ages and abilities. Crucially, the Complete Streets approach specifically addresses the needs of communities that have been historically underserved or overlooked by traditional transportation planning. This includes older adults, people with disabilities, individuals without car access, and communities of color.
Addressing the Shortcomings of Incomplete Streets
“Incomplete streets” are the result of outdated planning processes that fail to consider the diverse needs of all street users. These processes often prioritize vehicle speed and throughput above all else, leading to streets that are uncomfortable and dangerous for anyone not traveling by car. The consequence is a spectrum of streets, ranging from inconvenient to outright life-threatening for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users.
What Defines a Complete Street?
While Complete Streets is defined by its comprehensive approach, there’s no single blueprint for what a Complete Street looks like. Each Complete Street is unique and tailored to its specific community context. A Complete Street can incorporate a variety of elements, such as sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes or wide shoulders, prioritized bus lanes, comfortable and accessible public transit stops, frequent and safe pedestrian crosswalks, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, narrowed vehicle travel lanes, and roundabouts, among other features.
The appearance and features of Complete Streets will naturally vary depending on whether they are in rural, suburban, or urban environments, reflecting the different needs and contexts of each community.
The Urgent Need for Complete Streets
The implementation of Complete Streets is becoming increasingly critical due to the alarming rise in pedestrian fatalities. The number of people struck and killed while walking has been steadily increasing since 2009, reaching levels not seen in over three decades. This represents a historic and deeply concerning public safety crisis.
Excessive speed is a primary factor in these tragic fatalities. Speed is a critical determinant of the severity of a crash, directly impacting whether a collision results in serious injury or death. While the growing size of vehicles also contributes to pedestrian fatalities, speed remains a paramount concern in street safety.
Complete Streets offer a vital solution by prioritizing safety in street design. By shifting the focus away from maximizing vehicle speed, Complete Streets aim to create environments where slower speeds are naturally encouraged, making streets safer for everyone.
Historically, transportation agencies have often prioritized vehicle speed and minimizing delays. This emphasis stems from practices ingrained since the interstate highway era and political pressures to alleviate traffic congestion. While safety is considered, the default approach to street design often places vehicle speed and throughput at the top of the priority list, sometimes overshadowing safety concerns.
The Conflict Between Speed and Safety in Street Design
The inherent conflict between prioritizing speed and safety in street design is a crucial point to understand. Often, design choices that enhance vehicle speed come at the expense of safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
Complete Streets seek to resolve this conflict by fundamentally re-evaluating street design priorities, placing safety and accessibility at the forefront. By implementing design interventions that naturally calm traffic and prioritize vulnerable road users, Complete Streets strive to create a safer and more balanced transportation network.
The Growing Movement of Complete Streets Policies
Across the United States, the Complete Streets movement is gaining momentum. Over 1,700 Complete Streets policies have been adopted nationwide, encompassing 35 state governments, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. This widespread adoption signals a significant shift towards prioritizing safer, more inclusive street design.
However, the effectiveness of these policies varies. The National Complete Streets Coalition actively monitors and evaluates Complete Streets policies at the state and local levels. Their comprehensive framework assesses policy strength based on key elements such as accountability and prioritization of vulnerable users, promoting the adoption of robust and impactful policies.
The Transformative Effect of Strong Complete Streets Policies
Strong Complete Streets policies are not just words on paper; they are catalysts for real change in how communities plan and build their streets. These policies empower states, regions, counties, cities, and towns to fundamentally reshape their decision-making processes related to streets.
While policy adoption is the crucial first step, it’s part of a longer process of transforming street design practices. Changing these practices is essential to making Complete Streets the standard approach. These practices then shape the transportation projects that are built, which in turn create the building blocks of a comprehensive and connected network that serves everyone safely and efficiently.
The city of Tucson, Arizona, provides a compelling example of this transformation. By adopting a strong Complete Streets policy in 2019, Tucson is working to institutionalize the concept of Complete Streets and mobility, aiming to create a safer and more accessible city for all its residents. This commitment is driven by the alarming number of injuries and fatalities on Tucson streets each year, highlighting the urgent need for a new approach to street design.
Complete Streets are not just about infrastructure; they are about creating safer, healthier, and more equitable communities for everyone. By prioritizing people over speed, Complete Streets pave the way for a more sustainable and inclusive future for our cities and towns.
