Complete Streets for Indianapolis
The Urban Planning Scholar Series hosted a Complete Streets (also wikipedia entry) training session on June 29-30th in Indianapolis. The event was split into two parts: 1) the traditional 2 hour lecture, and 2) a full 1.5 day workshop on winning complete street policies in your local jurisdictions. Because AARP sponsored the event, admission was free. I only attended the first session, because work was slow in the office, but not that slow.
The lecture was given by Randy Neufeld, a complete streets strategic management consultant, who focused on the basics of complete streets and why it benefits so many people. He also discussed what the complete streets program is not attempting to do:
Perhaps the best argument I heard during the lecture was that Complete Streets policies encourage economic activity. Pedestrians and bicyclists can now access stores and shops that they would not have felt safe traveling to without the new policies. Also, because fewer parking spaces are necessary, the policies encourage denser development with less wasted space.
Complete street policies are based around the idea that there is no prescriptive solution that works in all situations. The street designers are tasked with a new policy that "ensures that transportation agencies routinely design and operate the entire right of way to enable safe access for all users". For more examples go the the Complete Streets Flickr page.
One important item addressed by the complete streets policy is that of access to public transit options. I have often seen cities invest in buses with the capacity to handle disabled transit users. However, if the bus stops are not set up correctly, the system has failed. Just outside my office where I work there is a pitiful bus stop without a curb cut and with no sidewalks nearby. In combination with the narrow road and steep slopes on each side of the road the safety for pedestrians is reduced significantly. It is virtually impossible to use this road with a wheelchair.
A world class bus stop for our world class city
Not an inviting streetscape for pedestrians
This area provides a huge amount of jobs, but the message it sends is that only cars are welcome. Even when I attempt to cross the narrow street for lunch it is a risky procedure. There are absolutely no provisions for people in this commercial park. This is exactly the kind of thing that complete street policies are trying to avoid. It will be quite expensive to retrofit this area, but it could have been provided at little cost in the beginning. I imagine the city and the property owners will resist upgrades in this area for as long as possible, contributing to pedestrian risk and economic segregation.
The lecture was given by Randy Neufeld, a complete streets strategic management consultant, who focused on the basics of complete streets and why it benefits so many people. He also discussed what the complete streets program is not attempting to do:
- put a prescriptive design manual in place
- put bike lanes on every street
- reduce traffic capacity
Introduction to Complete Streets
View more documents from Complete Streets.
Perhaps the best argument I heard during the lecture was that Complete Streets policies encourage economic activity. Pedestrians and bicyclists can now access stores and shops that they would not have felt safe traveling to without the new policies. Also, because fewer parking spaces are necessary, the policies encourage denser development with less wasted space.
Complete street policies are based around the idea that there is no prescriptive solution that works in all situations. The street designers are tasked with a new policy that "ensures that transportation agencies routinely design and operate the entire right of way to enable safe access for all users". For more examples go the the Complete Streets Flickr page.
One important item addressed by the complete streets policy is that of access to public transit options. I have often seen cities invest in buses with the capacity to handle disabled transit users. However, if the bus stops are not set up correctly, the system has failed. Just outside my office where I work there is a pitiful bus stop without a curb cut and with no sidewalks nearby. In combination with the narrow road and steep slopes on each side of the road the safety for pedestrians is reduced significantly. It is virtually impossible to use this road with a wheelchair.
A world class bus stop for our world class city
Not an inviting streetscape for pedestriansThis area provides a huge amount of jobs, but the message it sends is that only cars are welcome. Even when I attempt to cross the narrow street for lunch it is a risky procedure. There are absolutely no provisions for people in this commercial park. This is exactly the kind of thing that complete street policies are trying to avoid. It will be quite expensive to retrofit this area, but it could have been provided at little cost in the beginning. I imagine the city and the property owners will resist upgrades in this area for as long as possible, contributing to pedestrian risk and economic segregation.
Labels: green design, infrastructure, Urban Environment
posted by Graeme at
7:30 AM
6 Comments:
Killer post and nice slide show. Sign me up for complete streets.
"Do things right the first time" is a good mantra. The good news is that the people in our MPO and DMD seem to grasp this. Now, more importantly, we need to work on the implementation.
Thanks for comment and the update from MPO and DMD. I added photos of the bus stop as an update, this was near intersection of 71st and I-465 on NW quadrant.
That's bleak alright. I like the quote cribbing from 92.3 WTTS. "World Class bus stop in a world class city." I think it's basically the city's way of saying "here's your damned bus stop, stop calling us."
One of the great benefits to my job in the City County Building is that I'm in contact with the right people We really have some visionary talent on board with the program. But we are fighting decades of doing things the wrong way.
Oh dear. I hope you and your coworkers realize that my comments concerning Indianapolis planning and infrastructure are somewhat tongue-in-cheek. (esp my latest post)
I understand that our current problems stem from the good intentions of past solutions, so I do not blame the current cast of local government employees. Just wanted to throw that out there because I don't want anyone to think I had lost faith in the government.
Please tell your friends in the CCB to keep up the progressive reformation. Additions like bike lanes, traffic calming, the Cultural Trail, and transit planning are making a big difference in the city. All Indy residents are aware of the big impact these programs have on the city reputation and our quality of life.
No offense taken at all! I agree with your assessment. I don't actually work for the city or the county, but a tiny organization called IMAGIS, which is run by IUPUI. We provide the aerial photography and much of the data for the county (buildings, parking, pavement, hydrology, etc).
Lately I've been seeing a lot more interest in ideals that I value: sidewalks, transit, brownfield redevelopment, green buildings, bicycling, etc. A lot of that is coming from the MPO, who work closely with us, but I also talk with DMD people through a freak contact I made from a basketball board (of all places).
Great photos and analysis, Graeme. I know I'm slow to catch on to your blog here, but I'm glad to know someone else went to the Complete Streets conference (or at least the same morning lecture I attended).
I applied a similar dissection of the pedestrian landscape on my own nascent blog, American Dirt--http://dirtamericana.blogspot.com/2009/07/democratizing-streets.html where might focuses on Greenwood's efforts to improve its pedestrian trail/sidewalk network. I'd love your feedback. And I have credited you for providing me the awareness of that link to those good Picasa pictures.
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