The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently released a report addressed to Congress named Moving to a Complete Streets Design Model: A Report to Congress on Opportunities and Challenge, which details the widespread implementation of the Complete Streets design to improve safety and accessibility.

The report identified five areas of reform that will help FHWA increase the proportion of federally funded transportation projects that are planned and operated as Complete Streets.

 

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has worked with FHWA to include various landscape architects in discussions about Complete Streets projects. Included Landscape Architects are Rob Loftis, ASLA, Peg Staeheli, FASLA, David Lustberg, ASLA, David Crawley, ASLA and Ryan Bouma.

Over the last decade, roadway fatalities have been on the rise, particularly among bicyclists and pedestrians. Congress in turn have five key areas of focus, including; to improve data collection and analysis on safety, support safety outcomes during project design and development, accelerate adoption of safety and accessibility standards in street design, interpret standards, guidelines, and project reviews as prioritizing safety for all, and to make the Complete Streets model the default approach in funding and design.

"Oftentimes, laws and regulations promoting Complete Streets are passed at the federal level, but concerted efforts are not made to ensure that they fully translate into the actual projects on the ground. Our state and local transportation agencies could benefit from guidance on how to best implement these design strategies," said Rob Loftis, ASLA.

The report focuses on "a practical approach to Complete Streets also focuses broadly on building Complete Networks to provide connectivity for different modes of travel. Complete Networks may use parallel routes to facilitate access that variously prioritizes different modes throughout an area while ensuring the safety of all roadway users."


https://www.asla.org/NewsListingDetails.aspx?id=61144