Complete Streets Bill Introduced in St. Louis!

Photo Credit: streetswiki.wikispaces.com

Trailnet’s April 30th Livable St. Louis Conference ended with a BANG! Alderman Shane Cohn announced to conference attendees that only a few hours earlier he had introduced a Complete Streets bill to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. Within a few short hours the St. Louis Complete Streets bill had attracted 11 Aldermanic co-sponsors from nearly every corner of the City, including more than half of the Streets, Refuse, and Traffic Committee members – a great sign that the bill has strong support.

What is a Complete Streets policy?
Complete Streets is a new way to look at transportation. For over 60 years, American communities have been shaped almost exclusively by the automobile. In our zeal for cars, we forgot about people. Streets got wider, traffic moved faster, metropolitan regions sprawled out across former agricultural land, and in many cases we altogether stopped building even the most basic pedestrian facilities - sidewalks. Like all unhealthy relationships, our obsession with cars has gone a little too far -- many Americans are dependent on their cars whether they like it or not. In many American communities, children cannot walk to school, seniors cannot live independently, and local economies have disappeared as auto-centric strip malls and big-box stores have forced the little guys out of business.

Complete Streets challenges this old way of thinking by giving all types of transportation, including walking, biking, public transportation, and cars, equal importance when building and maintaining streets. Complete Streets create safe travel environments for seniors, people with disabilities, and children.

Trailnet has been working with City staff and elected officials for nearly two years to get the Complete Streets policy to this point. Now we need your help to make sure the bill passes and gets signed into law. If you are a resident of the City of St. Louis, please call or email your Alderman today to ask them to support the bill. Even if your Alderman is already a co-sponsor, we encourage you to call them and thank them for their support moving the bill forward. Here is a list of Aldermen who are signed on as co-sponsors:

-Freeman Bosley Sr.
-Jeffrey Boyd
-Gregory Carter
-Stephen Conway
-Marlene Davis
-Jennifer Florida
-Dionne Flowers
-Antonio French
-Lyda Krewson
-Samuel Moore
-Ken Ortmann
-President, Lewis Reed
-Craig Schmid
-Kacie Starr Triplett
-Frank Williamson
-Phyllis Young

To learn more about Complete Streets policies and why they are important for creating healthy, active, and vibrant communities, please visit the National Complete Streets Coalition.

To find contact information for your Alderman, visit the St. Louis Board of Aldermen online.