As many of you may already know, there is some Complete Streets legislation working it’s way through the House Committee on Municipal Government. There are two bills of interest:
H5821: Establishes a Complete Streets Council. It will consist of eleven members from the six state agencies and from the local government, public and other groups that are working on Complete Streets initiatives. The council has well defined tasks and a six year timeframe to accomplish them, by the end of which complete streets policy will have been successfully and comprehensively adopted across the state.
H5886: Defines Complete Streets and the requirement for RIDOT and local municipalities to incorporate Complete Street designs in all future projects. It also requires that RIDOT provide a report in the future, demonstrating how projects around the state are adhering to Complete Street principles.
The House Committee on Municipal Government held a hearing last night. The Projo reports that the hearing received mixed reviews. The main argument against the bill was a concern over where the money to complete such projects would come from. How about this for a solution, let’s simplify our overall infrastructure by growing the ability for people to move themselves and expand our public transit system. The end result, less overall vehicles on the roadways, fewer traffic jams, and the ability to get by with narrower and fewer streets.
I know there are a few people involved with the Complete Streets movement who watch this blog. It would be great to get their first hand feedback about the hearings.