Complete Streets Study

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Complete Streets Study

• Tribes Transportation Conference
• October 1, 2009
• Black Bear Casino Resort
• Carlton, MN

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What is a Complete Street?

• From the National Complete Streets Coalition
• COMPLETE STREETS are designed and operated to
  enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians,
  bicyclists, motorists and bus riders of all ages
  and abilities are able to safely move along and
  across a complete street.

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Why is this now a movement?

• The public is looking for more transportation
  options including walking, biking, and buses.
• ADA awareness is heightened.
• People want more opportunities to stay physically
  active.
• Health insurers want people to stay more active.
• Energy savings.

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Minnesota Laws 2008, Chapter 350, Article 1,
Section 94.

• Sec. 94. COMPLETE STREETS.The commissioner of
  transportation, in cooperation with the
  Metropolitan Council and representatives of
  counties, statutory and home rule charter cities,
  and towns, shall study the benefits, feasibility,
  and cost of adopting a complete streets policy
  applicable to plans to construct, reconstruct,
  and relocate streets and roads that includes the
  following elements

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Minnesota Laws 2008, Chapter 350, Article 1,
Section 94. (continued)

• 1. safe access for all users, including
  pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit
  riders
• 2. bicycle and pedestrian ways in urbanized
  areas except where bicyclists and pedestrians are
  prohibited by law, where costs would be
  excessively disproportionate, and where there is
  no need for bicycle and pedestrian ways
• 3. paved shoulders on rural roads
• 4. safe pedestrian travel, including for people
  with disabilities, on sidewalks and street
  crossings
• 5. utilization of the latest and best design
  standards and
• 6. consistency of complete streets plan with
  community context.

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Minnesota Laws 2008, Chapter 350, Article 1,
Section 94.

• The Commissioner shall report findings,
  conclusions, and recommendations to the Senate
  Transportation Budget and Policy Division and the
  house of representatives Transportation Finance
  Division and Transportation and Transit Policy
  Subcommittee by December 5, 2009"

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Legislative Activity at the Federal level

• Complete Streets Act of 2009
• H.R.1443 and S. 584
• A bill to ensure that all users of the
  transportation
• system, including pedestrians, bicyclists,
  transit users,
• children, older individuals, and individuals with
  
• disabilities, are able to travel safely and
  conveniently
• on and across federally funded streets and
  highways.

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Complete Street Policy

• According to Barbara McCann, who is writing a
  Best Scoping Practices Manual incorporating
  Complete Streets into Transportation Design
• What it is
• Includes all modes
• Applies to new construction and reconstruction
• Will allow special and limited exceptions
• Uses Context Sensitive Design in conjunction
  with Complete Streets
• Uses latest design standards with flexibility
• Sets performance standards

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Complete Street Policy

• What it is not
• Design prescription
• Mandate for immediate retrofit
• Silver bullet other initiatives need to be
  addressed such as land use, environmental
  concerns, VMT reduction
• Based on study process, it is not necessarily
  all modes on all roads

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Mn/DOTs Study Approach

• Project Management Team
• Advisory Committee
• Technical Advisory Panel
• Other resources and presentations
• Consultant-SRF Consulting Group
• Outreach-CEAM, MPWA, MCEA, Mn/DOT, etc.

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Project Management Team

• John Powell, Co-Chair City of Savage
• Tim Quinn, Co-Chair Mn/DOT
• Merry Daher, Project Manager Mn/DOT State Aid
• Rick Kjonaas, Project Manager Mn/DOT State Aid
• Michael Marti SRF Consulting Group
• Renae Kuehl SRF Consulting Group

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Advisory Committee

• James Andrew Metropolitan Council
• Lee Amundson Willmar Area Transportation
  Partnership
• James Gittemeier Duluth Metropolitan Planning
  Organization
• Steve Elkins Bloomington City Council
• Mary McComber Oak Park Heights City Council
• Shelly Pederson Bloomington City Engineer
• Dennis Berg Anoka County Commissioner
• Gary Danielson Mn County Engineers Association
• Dan Greensweig Mn Association of Townships
• Mike Schadauer Mn/DOT Transit
• Karen Nikolai Hennepin County Community Design
  Liaison
• Mike Wojcik Rochester City Council

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Technical Advisory Panel

• Scott Bradley Mn/DOT Context Sensitive Design
• Jim Rosenow Mn/DOT Geometrics Design Engineer
• Paul Stine Mn/DOT State Aid Standards Engineer
• Tim Mitchell Mn/DOT Office of Transit
• Sue Groth Mn/DOT Traffic Engineer
• Lynnette Geschwind - Mn/DOT Affirmative Action
• Brian Gage Trans. Planning and Access
  Management
• Tim Anderson Federal Highway Administration
• Mukhtar Thakur Mn/DOT State Design Engineer
• Mathew Pahs Mn/DOT Office of Freight and
  Commercial Vehicles Operations
• Amr Jabr Mn/DOT Metro Operations Maintenance
  Director
• Mike Robinson Mn/DOT Duluth District Engineer
• Marc Briese Woodbury Traffic Engineer
• Barb Thoman Transit for Livable Communities
• Michael Huber Urban Land Institute
• Irene Weis Mn/TAC
• Ron Biss Transportation Accessibility Advisory
  Committee

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Study Goal

• The goal of the Study is not to answer all the
  questions, or to develop policy it shall study
  the benefits, feasibility, and cost of adopting a
  complete streets policy.
• Resource document
• Identify red flags
• Synthesis of other research

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Schedule

• September 2008 Co-chairs Project Manager named
  by Mn/DOT
• October 2008 Advisory Committee assembled per
  language in bill
• November 2008 Technical Advisory Panel (TAP)
  identified
• December 2008 Retained SRF to assist in
  bringing together input from Committee, TAP,
  literature search and public input from a
  Mn/DOT Complete Streets Website and write a
  report to the Commissioner
• December 24, 2008 Mn/DOT Complete Streets
  website live http//www.dot.state.mn
  .us/planning/completestreets
• January 26, 2009 AC Kick off meeting with the
  Committee and TAP Public Outreach
• January-May 2009 Committee and TAP meetings,
  research
• May-August 2009 Report Development

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Schedule (cont.)

• September 21, 2009 Final AC and TAP Meeting
  (joint meeting)
• October 15, 2009 Revised Final Report to be
  submitted to the Commissioner
• December 15, 2009 Commissioner of Mn/DOT to
  report findings to the Senate Transportation
  Budget and Policy Division and the House of
  Representatives Transportation Finance
  Division and Transportation and Transit
  Policy subcommittee

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What Will the Report Contain?

• Executive Summary
• Description and Goals
• Legislative Request, CS Definition and Purpose,
  Report Goal, Study Approach
• Balancing Safety, Mobility, Efficiency and Cost
• Balanced Approach, Relationship to Context
  Sensitive Solutions
• State of the State in Minnesota
• Design Standards, Funding, Operations, ADA
• Lessons Learned from Interviews
• Background, Summary of Findings
• Benefit, Cost, Feasibility, and Funding
• Implementation Strategies
• Conclusions and Recommendations
• Appendix

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Preliminary Conclusions

• The meetings, discussions, presentations,
  interviews, research, and synthesis
• included as part of this study lead to the
  identification of several conclusions
• Study Content
• The purpose of this study was not to develop a
  policy, but to identify the benefits, costs and
  feasibility of implementing a Complete Streets
  Policy in Minnesota and provide recommendations
  relating to the implementation of a Complete
  Streets policy.
• Complete Streets does not mean all modes on all
  roads rather, the goal of Complete Streets
  should be to 1) develop a balanced transportation
  system that accommodates all modes via integrated
  modal planning inclusive of each mode of
  transportation (transit, freight, automobiles,
  bicyclists and pedestrians), and 2) inclusion of
  all transportation users of all types, ages and
  abilities.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Implementation
• Over 100 agencies have implemented Complete
  Streets policies in the United States, including
  16 states.
• Complete Streets must start at the planning
  stage. Better and mutually supportive
  integration of transportation and land use
  planning across all jurisdictions is recognized
  as extremely important toward enabling and
  supporting complete streets.
• Implementation of a Complete Streets program
  typically focuses on new construction/reconstructi
  on rather than retrofit or resurfacing.
  Opportunities for modal provision in some
  facilities in the immediate future may be limited
  to re-striping, either as part of the pavement
  preservation or as a stand-alone modification.
• APA/NCSC is in the process of completing report
  on the best practices of Complete Streets which
  will be available in January 2010.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Design
• There is an outcome lag. Many of the Complete
  Streets concerns arose from past design practices
  which have been improved over the years. As
  funding becomes available and roadways are
  updated, Context Sensitive Solutions and Complete
  Streets principals are now being applied.
• There is not a simple one design fits all
  design. Each project needs to be designed based
  on user needs and contextual factors. The policy
  should not be prescriptive and should allow
  flexibility in the design.
• Minnesotas existing transportation planning, and
  design guidelines require revisions to eliminate
  inconsistencies and to be more accommodating to
  all modes of travel. Additionally, there needs
  to be separate policies for urban and rural
  Complete Streets.
• The main areas of potential conflict between
  current design practices and Complete Streets
  are lane width, speed, annual daily traffic ,
  and level of service and roadway classifications.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Design (Cont.)
• The Complete Streets design process doesnt focus
  on functional class. Consistent with CSS, the
  design process must consider all modes and
  community context, including development/land use
  plans.
• Developing a design exception review process is a
  recommended component of the Complete Streets
  process.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Operations and Maintenance
• Involve maintenance and operations staff in the
  design process to minimize long term maintenance
  costs.
• Snow removal priorities on sidewalks and ramps
  should be defined to improve accessibility.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Costs, Benefits and Feasibility
• Quantifiable benefit/cost analyses have not been
  performed for Complete Streets implementation.
  The general consensus is that the benefits of
  Complete Streets offset the incremental costs.
• Although there are potentially some incremental
  additional costs associated with Complete
  Streets, they are often offset by the benefits
  Therefore, Complete Streets are considered
  feasible on state, regional and local level.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Funding
• As stated in the recently released Mn/DOT State
  Transportation Plan (August, 2009), there is a
  projected shortfall of 50 billion dollars
  (transportation need versus projected budget)
  over the next 20 years. Reduced funding has
  caused agencies to delay transportation projects
  and initiatives which, in turn, have caused a
  delay in implementing CSS.
• There is not one central resource that agencies
  can use to get information about all funding
  sources available.
• Finding funding can be difficult if the project
  needs do not align with funding requirements. In
  addition, if an agency would like to use multiple
  funding sources on one project, the timeframe the
  funding is available from each source may not
  align.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Policy Elements
• According to the National Complete Streets
  Coalition, an ideal policy has the
• following elements
• Includes a vision for how and why the community
  wants to complete its streets.
• Specifies that all users includes pedestrians,
  bicyclists and transit passengers of all ages and
  abilities, as well as trucks, buses and
  automobiles.
• Encourages street connectivity and aims to create
  a comprehensive, integrated, connected network
  for all modes.
• Is adoptable by all agencies to cover all roads.
• Applies to both new and retrofit projects,
  including design, planning, maintenance, and
  operations, for the entire right of way.
• Makes any design exceptions specific and sets a
  clear procedure that requires high-level approval
  of exceptions.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Policy Elements (cont.)
• Directs the use of the latest and best design
  standards while recognizing the need for
  flexibility in balancing user needs.
• Directs that Complete Streets solutions will
  complement the context of the community.
• Establishes performance standards with measurable
  outcomes.
• Includes specific next steps for implementation
  of the policy.

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Preliminary Conclusions (cont.)

• Policy Elements (cont.)
• Additional elements identified by the study
  committees include
• Encourage adaptive lighting as a need of Complete
  Streets for usability by street users.
• Encourage managing maintenance impacts (primarily
  snow, landscaping and lighting).
• Striving for improving pedestrian and vehicular
  safety and reducing accidents. Toward Zero Deaths

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Preliminary Recommendations

• Development and implementation of a Complete
  Streets process should follow a phased sequential
  approach Establish need, develop policy,
  reconcile differences in planning and design
  policies, guidelines and manuals, implement, and
  review/measure/refine.
• Review and revise conflicting information in
  Minnesotas design documents.
• Explore the feasibility of integrating
  Minnesotas existing planning and design manuals
  into one manual.

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Preliminary Recommendations (cont.)

• Compile a complete list of funding sources
  available and the constraints related to these
  sources into one resource.
• All agencies should develop an integrated
  transportation plan that addresses connectivity
  for all modes for all users of all ages.
• Assist local agencies in developing their own
  Complete Streets Policies with the support of
  Mn/DOTs expertise in CSS, ADA,
  bicycle/pedestrian planning, design and funding
  strategies.
• Review the State Aid variance process, make more
  accessible and transparent.

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For further information

• http//www.dot.state.mn.us/planning/completestreet
  s/index.html
• Tim Quinn, Resource Engineer
• Mn/DOT Metro District
• John Powell, Public Works Director/City Engineer
• City of Savage jpowell_at_ci.savage.mn.us

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Questions and Comments..