A presentation made by Nicholas de Wolff to Burbank City Council and fellow Sustainability Commissioners, outlining the benefits of Complete Streets, and new ways to consider the role of the streetscape in urban areas.

1. Livable Streets
& Road Diets
Part of the “Livable Burbank” Presentation, originally made to Transportation
and Urban Design Subcommittee, September 2nd, 2009
N.de Wolff

2. What is a Complete Street?
A Complete Street is safe, comfortable and convenient for
travel via automobile, foot, bicycle, and transit.

3. A Complete Street:

Offers a full range of
travel choices

Connects to a network
that offers choices

Is fully accessible to all:
kids, seniors and people
with disabilities

Supports & contributes to
life in pleasant,
convenient neighborhoods
•
Serves transit
Portland Cyclists
Commuting Video

4. Why do we need to complete the streets?

5. Americans want to walk and bike more
 52%
want to bike
more than they do
now.
 55%
would rather
drive less and walk
more
“America Bikes” Poll
STPP Poll

6. About a third of Americans don’t drive:
 21%
of Americans
over 65
 All
children under 16
 Many
low income
Americans cannot
afford automobiles

7. Streets are inadequate:
Too narrow to share with bikes
No sidewalks
No room for bikes or pedestrians

8. Streets are inadequate:
Too dangerous to cross on foot
No room for people

9. Streets are inadequate:
 25%
of walking trips
take place on roads
w/o sidewalks or
shoulders
 Bike
lanes are
available for only
about 5% of bike
trips
Natl. Survey of Ped & Bicyclist Attitudes & Behaviors, 2003 BTS

10. Complete Street - Before

11. Complete Street - After
GOOD Magazine Livable Street Web Site

12. What you'll see when streets are complete
Kids going to school or
the ice cream shop on
their own
 Seniors comfortably
strolling and safely
crossing the street
 More bikes used for
utility and recreational
trips
 Fewer accidents and less
serious injuries
 A more smoothly
functioning road network
 Higher values for
adjoining properties


13. Benefits: for safety
Designing intersections for
pedestrian travel can reduce
pedestrian risk by 28%
(King/Ewing Report)

14. Benefits: for older Americans
•
50% of Americans will be
over 55 in 2030
•
More than half of older
Americans walk regularly.

21% of Americans over
65 do not drive

More than 50% of nondrivers stay at home on a
given day because they
lack transportation
options.

15. Benefits: for encouraging healthy activity
 Walking
&
bicycling help
prevent obesity,
diabetes, high
blood pressure &
colon cancer.
 Residents
are
65% more likely
to walk in a
neighborhood
with sidewalks.

16. Benefits: for people with disabilities
 20%
of Americans
have a disability
that limits their
daily activities.
 Complete
Streets
have curb cuts and
other features for
disabled travelers.
 Complete
Streets
reduce isolation
and dependence.

17. Isn’t it expensive?
“The cost is incremental or minimal in terms of the overall construction
costs for a new facility.”
 Whit Clement, Virginia Secretary of Transportation
“By fully considering the needs of all non-motorized travelers (pedestrians,
bicyclists, & persons with disabilities) early in the life of a project, the costs
associated with including facilities for these travelers are minimized.”
 Jeff Morales, Former Director, CalTrans

18. Is this supported in design manuals?
The AASHTO “Green Book”
“Because of the demands of
vehicular traffic in congested
areas, it is often extremely
difficult to make adequate
provisions for pedestrians.
Yet this should be done,
because pedestrians are the
lifeblood of our urban
areas..."

19. Is this supported in design manuals?
Most transportation experts agree this road is poorly designed

20. Won’t this mean wider streets?
Many overly wide roads could use a “road diet”

21. What’s a road diet?
Classic road diet shrinks 4 lanes to 3 + bike lanes

22. What else does a road diet do?
An inexpensive tool for retrofitting existing streets
Creates room for wider sidewalks

23. Are street design standards enough?
This road meets minimum standards, but is sterile

24. Putting All The Pieces Together
AddStart travelbuildings facebike lane
Bring streetstark,add a (infill)
median, now plain street
Narrow with buildings ina life!
Makeasurein more buildingscloserstreet
Bring the alanes, hassome texture
The the trees and
the

25. “ To reap the economic and environmental benefits of the next influx of
residents who will seek to move into or grow up in our cities between now and
2030, we must forge more capacity for growth, especially in transportation. That
requires, among other things, new priorities and a more efficient approach to
the city’s basic circulatory system – our streets.
Streets must be designed to give would-be cyclists a greater sense of safety
and belonging. More transportation choices and more reliable travel – and
streets that serve as public places in and of themselves – will not only improve
our commutes and environment. They also represent a new frontier in efforts to
improve the quality of life in our cities”.
Janette Sadik-Khan
Commissioner, Department of Transportation
New York City

26. Appendix

27. The many types of Complete Streets
Pro: Exclusive allows Pro: “fall zone” if bicyclist ride comfortably
Pro: Grass vergelane for soft A street cyclists can is forced off road
A commercial arterial with only on side
Con:Pro: Differentiating color schemetraffic clearly work bike lanes & sidewalks
Single-stripe separation has been proven to identifies zones streets with no auto parking lane,
Pro: Buffered from all other of lane
or widened for commercial arterials (see next slide).
Con: Cobbled lane makes for unnecessary discomfort for bicyclist
Con: Only really works on one-way streets or wide boulevards

28. The Case For Buffered Lanes
CLICK HERE TO PLAY VIDEO

29. The many types of Complete Streets
A street school children can safely cross

30. The many types of Complete Streets
A commercial street with lots of activity

31. Top pedestrian complaints are
incomplete streets
2002 Natl. Transportation
Availability & Use Survey

32. Top bicyclist complaints are
incomplete streets
2002 Natl. Transportation
Availability & Use Survey

33. Completing the Streets: One Example
Boulder, Colorado has built all arterials as multi-modal
corridors for auto, pedestrian, bicycle, and transit use.

34. Completing the Streets: One Example
Boulder, Colorado has built all arterials as multi-modal corridors
for auto, pedestrian, bicycle, and transit use.

35. Europe has more bike-ped travel
Pucher, AJPH Sept
2003

36. …And far fewer deaths
Pucher, AJPH Sept
2003

37. Incomplete streets are unsafe.
FMIS, NHTS, FARS
federal databases

38. Bike Share Programs
CLICK HERE TO PLAY VIDEO
CLICK HERE TO PLAY LAUNCH VIDEO
CLICK HERE TO PLAY 1st
ANNIVERSARY VIDEO

39. Further resources

Article about Complete Streets (who coined the term; cities
developing successful programs, etc)

The Livable Streets Initiative Web Site

Click here to visit the 21st Century Street Design
Competition Web Site