Complete Streets
for public health
Making it Better Conference
November 16, 2011
Ethan Fawley, Fresh Energy
Small Group Exercise:
Draw a “complete” street
What are “complete” streets?
Complete Streets are designed and
operated to be safe and accessible for
pedestrians, transit riders, bicyclists,
and drivers—all users, regardless of
age or ability.
What do “complete” streets look like?
 Vary by local context
 Typically include
sidewalks and safe
crossing points in
urban and suburban
areas
 Typically include bike
lanes or path on busier
roads
 Include texturized curb
ramps for wheelchair
users and visually
impaired
Many types of “complete” streets
Example: Franklin Ave in Minneapolis
The “incomplete”
12-inch
wide
Sidewalk
Heading to the “complete”…
New
businesses
Why?
Access and equity
Health
Environment
High gas prices
Personal preferences
Quality of life
Main Street vitality
Tourism
SAFETY
Benefits: Health

Residents are 65% more likely to
walk in a neighborhood with
sidewalks

Cities with more bike lanes per
square mile have higher levels of
bicycle commuting

Complete Streets are
recommended by:

The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention

Minnesota State Obesity Plan

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of
Minnesota, American Heart
Association, Minnesotans for
Healthy Kids Coalition, and
Minnesota Public Health
Association
Benefits: Health
30
60
25
50
20
40
15
30
10
20
5
10
0
0
N
Percent Walk, Bike,Transit
Percent of Obesity
Obesity is lower in places where people use bicycles,
public transportation, and their feet.
d ia a d e d y n y n ia s d k
SAalan tr al nad elan anc lan Ital pai ma n e de ustr land rlan mar
U e us a Ir Fr in
S er w A er tze en
F
Z A C
G S
eth Swi D
ew
N
Obesity
Walk, Bike, Transit
Pucher, “Walking and Cycling: Path to Improved Public Health,” Fit City Conference, NYC, June 2009
Benefits: Health
States with the highest
levels of biking and
walking have, on average,
the lowest rates of obesity,
diabetes, and high blood
pressure.
Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2010
Benchmarking Report, Alliance for Biking and Walking
Example: Albert Lea Blue Zones
 AARP, Dan Buettner, and
the City led project to
improve the length and
quality of lives
 Life expectancy of 786 full
participates increased by
an average of 2.9 years
 Project included “walking
moias,” walking school
buses, walkability audit,
and a new Complete
Streets subdivision
ordinance
 City added first bike lane
in 2011
The Potential
Nationally:
50% of trips 3
miles or less
28% of trips 1
mile or less
72% of trips of 1
mile or less are
driven
Source: Dan Burden
What is a Complete Streets
policy?
 Directs transportation planners and engineers
to consistently design roads will all users in
mind
 Declares political support for building
“complete” streets
 Sets a vision for a Complete Streets process
Focused on safety and accessibility of all road
users
 Offers implementation steps
Growing national movement
290+ policies in last 11 years
90
Number of Policies Adopted
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Growing Minnesota movement
Local resolutions or policies












Rochester
Hennepin County
St. Paul
Albert Lea
Bloomington
Duluth
Independence
Byron
Stewartville
Big Lake
St. Louis Park
Fargo-Moorhead Metro COG




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



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
Red Wing
New Hope
North St. Paul
Breckenridge
Pipestone
St. Cloud APO
Rochester-Olmsted COG
Dilworth
Battle Lake
Wilkin County
Eagan
 State policy for Mn/DOT signed May 15, 2010 by
then-Governor Pawlenty after strong bi-partisan
legislative support
Getting started on Complete
Streets in your community
Most common process in Minnesota
1. Understand the case for Complete
Streets—decide whether to go for a
policy or project to start
2. Work group drafts a resolution of
support
3. Council/board approves resolution
4. Work group creates a full policy
5. Council/board approves policy
6. Implementation and reporting
Step 1: Understanding the case
• Determine some compelling potential
benefits for your community
– Connect with comprehensive plan
– Safety, health, environment, schools,
economic, etc.
• Connect with a few potential allies across
focus areas
• Find local examples—or upcoming local
projects that could be case studies
• Begin to engage engineers
Key Potential Challenges
Concern about costs
Opposition from local
engineer
Misinformation about
what Complete Streets
means
Partisan politics
Neighborhood
opposition to
implementation
Source: http://www.planetware.com
Complete Streets and cost
Focus is taking advantage of regular
road building as an opportunity; not
about an additional program or retrofits
About balancing the available space in
the right of way—not expanding
Complete Streets and cost
About maximizing the value of public
investment across many goals
None of the cities, counties, or states
have needed to raise additional money
to pay for Complete Streets and no
community has later reversed their
policy
Key Policy Strategy Takeaways
Work with the engineers as early and positively as
possible
Build a campaign focused on what you need for
success
Partner with allies from various perspectives
Be willing to compromise, but don’t sell out
Engage media
Key Policy Strategy Takeaways
Messages
Key message is safety, especially for seniors and kids
Find tangible, personal good and bad stories
Address cost head on
Pedestrians are a safer message focus than bicyclists
Public doesn’t know what Complete Streets means, so connect
to safe roads every time
Messengers
Engineers, principals, doctors, moms with kids, seniors, people
with disabilities
Cater to who you need to reach
Common Points of Discussion
 “We already do this.”
 Cost
 Lane Widths
 Emergency vehicle access
 Traffic Speeds
 Number of lanes
 Functional classification
What you need for successful
implementation
Strong political support
Stamina
Knowledge
Find and cultivate supportive engineers
Project supporters—reach out to
community EARLY!!!!
Some Resources
 MN Complete Streets Coalition toolkit
 American Planning Association
Complete Streets best practices manual
 National Complete Streets Coalition implementation
toolkit coming soon
 www.completestreets.org
Complete Streets Exercise
76th Street in Richfield
Basic Info










Mostly residential with some commercial
7,000 ADT with little projected increase
Road is straight and flat
Neighborhood complaints about speeding
Neighbors don’t feel very comfortable walking directly
next to road
No area for snow storage on sidewalk side
Interest in extending a regional trail on one side
Interest in adding street trees
Interest in better supporting walking and biking
Existing utility lines are an issue
 Right of way = 60 feet wide
 Existing street = 44 feet wide
(Very) basic engineering in feet
 Traffic Lane widths
 Minnesota State Aid Standards call for at least 11 feet
(working to get down to 10 feet)
 Turn lanes can sometimes be 10-feet wide
 High speed or rural roads typically 12 feet
 Number of lanes
 State Aid Standards require four lanes at 15,000 ADT
 Also driven by Level of Service (intersection delay)
 Bike lane widths
 Guidance calls for 5- or 6-feet wide
 Sidewalk widths
 Typically at least 5-feet wide, minimum of 4 feet
 Share-use path widths
 Typically 10’ minimum, can go to 8’ in right context
 Boulevard widths
 Some communities have standards
76th Street After
Before
After
For More information:
www.mncompletestreets.org
www.completestreets.org
www.fresh-energy.org