Mayor Slay Signs Complete Streets Bill
Photo Caption: President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed, Alderman Shane Cohn, and Trailnet Executive Director Ann Mack look on as Mayor Slay signs the Complete Streets bill into law.St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay hosted a press conference and signing ceremony this morning to sign the St. Louis Complete Streets bill into law. It's official.
Trailnet has been working closely with City staff and elected officials for nearly two years to move the bill forward. The work is one part of our Healthy, Active & Vibrant Communities Initiative made possible through funding from Missouri Foundation for Health. As the national movement to reconnect urban planning, public health, and public policy grows, the St. Louis Complete Streets bill stands as a great example of a broad partnership securing an important win that will benefit health, livability, the environment, and create a foundation for a strong local economy. Our staff worked hard to build consensus around this bill, and we are very proud that it passed with near unanimous support from the Board of Aldermen (26 yea’s and 1 abstention), as well as, strong support from the Mayor’s office, Board President Lewis Reed’s office, and key city staff in the Board of Public Service and the Streets Department.
Congratulations to all involved on this important milestone for the City of St. Louis!
Who is next? Do you think your community is ready to consider a Complete Streets policy? Trailnet staff are available to provide communities with information, resources, and technical assistance to move Complete Streets and other important infrastructure policies forward. If you are interested, please contact Trailnet's Active Living Program Manager, Phil Valko, at phil@trailnet.org
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What does this mean for St. Louis City now?
ReplyDeleteGreat question. The implementation of this policy will be gradual--project by project--with the goal of slowly creating more "complete" streets throughout the city. Some aspects of the implementation will be BIG (think South Grand redevelopment or Jefferson Bridge) and some will be as simple as improving crosswalk markings, adding more pedestrian signage, and upgrading pedestrian signals to meet best-practices.
ReplyDeleteStarting with the bill signing today, the City is committing to incorporate these principles into all new projects, including new construction and major renovation of roadways, at the very beginning of the design phase. It will not apply to projects that are already significantly underway (although many of these projects already include these considerations). It also means that the City will be eligible to access some non-traditional funding sources for these types of projects, including public health funding (the recent obesity prevention report to the President recommended Complete Streets as an important strategy to create more active community environments and public health funding is moving in that direction).
In the next few years, it is also likely that the City will review and update its street design standards and aspects of the land-use and zoning to make sure that they are consistent with the goal of creating more people-friendly streets and community environments.
More than anything, today marks a significant philosophical shift for the City. As with all things, change starts with a change in ideas and values first and then manifests as real, on the ground change.