Complete Streets in Missouri: Progress, examples, the connection with Missouri's proposed $8 billion transportation funding plan

Natasha Longpine of the Ozark Transportation Organization in the Springfield area emailed MoBikeFed today to let us know that the OTO had adopted a Complete Streets policy as part of its recent long-range plan update.

Now four of the five largest Metropolitan Planning Organizations in Missouri have adopted Complete Streets policies.  Every one of the six largest cities in Missouri have adopted Complete Streets policies.

So Complete Streets is on a roll in Missouri--and the timing couldn't be better.  Because work on the proposed new $8 billion Missouri transportation funding plan is moving forward at full speed, with the initiative petition filed and a citizen vote planned for November 2014.

Our strategy over the past several years has been to get Complete Streets policies in place across Missouri so that when new transportation funding is in place, it will fall under the new Complete Streets policies.  This will build complete, connected bicycling and walking systems into the very fabric of Missouri's transportation funding--that that is one of the primary long-term goals of our Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri.

So where are we now?

Urban Complete Street

Missouri Complete Streets at the metropolitan and regional planning levels

Including the OTO Complete Streets policy, now more than 3.2 million Missourians live in Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) areas that have adopted Complete Streets policies--over 50% of the state's population.

Some MPOs cover areas of adjoining states, meaning that in total over 4.7 million citizens are covered by the MPO-level Complete Streets policies listed below.

Here is the complete list of Complete Streets policies in Missouri Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs)--as far as we know:

• The Greater St. Joseph Area MPO (St Joseph area): Bike/Ped Policy (2002), Long Range Plan (2010)
• East-West Gateway Coordinating Council (St. Louis area, 2007): Great Streets Initiative (2006), Long Range Plan (2007, 2011)
• Mid-America Regional Council (Kansas City area): Complete Streets Policy and Handbook (2012), Long Range Plan (2010)
• Ozark Transportation Organization (Springfield Area): Long Range Plan (2011)

This incorporates four of the five largest MPOs in Missouri. 

Complete Streets logo

Why do we need to encourage MPOs and RPCs to adopt Complete Streets policies?

Encouraging our MPOs and RPCs to adopt Complete Streets policies is one of the most important steps we can take now.  As MoDOT's planned new $8 billion transportation funding plan moves toward a November 2014 citizen vote, it turns out that most decisions about projects, plans, and priorities for spending that $8 billion will be made at the MPO and RPC level.  If the MPOs and RPCs have incorporated Complete Streets thinking in their planning and policies, it will be far easier for them to prioritize needed bicycle and pedestrian connectivity with these new transportation dollars.

Eight MPOs cover Missouri's larger metropolitan areas and nineteen RPCs cover the remainder of the entire state of Missouri.  These regional planning councils set transportation policy and priorities for the regions they cover. You can find the list of all eight Missouri MPOs here and Missouri's 19 RPCs here.  Those lists include links to contact information for your local MPO or RPC.

In Missouri communities

Complete Streets continues to make progress in Missouri communities.  The most recently adopted policies are in Kansas City, Independence, Grandview, and Blue Springs in 2011 and Belton and Clayton in 2012.  Springfield has adopted Complete Streets language in its municipal long-range plan and is moving forward with a de-facto Complete Streets policies as the official long-range plan slowly works its way through the city council process.

Meanwhile, many communities that have adopted Complete Streets plans in recent years are working hard on implementation and working out the details.

The Complete Streets trend in Missouri

We recently added a link on our Complete Streets page to the earliest known MPO Complete Streets Policy in Missouri, and one of the very earliest in the nation--the St. Joseph Area MPO, which adopted Complete Streets policy language as part of its Bike/Ped Master Plan in 2002. 

Rural Highway Complete Street. Not every Complete Streets project need include sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, or any other specific element. Complete Streets is flexible; the objective is to allow safe bicycle and pedestrian access as appropriate to each particular situation. On many busy Missouri highways, simple shoulders are an excellent Complete Streets solution.

Similarly, Columbia was the first city in Missouri to adopt a Complete Streets policy, and one of the very first cities in the nation.  Columbia was also very advanced in that its policy was not simply a brief statement of intent, but a lengthy series of policies and procedures built into the warp and woof of the city's major street plan.

From those two starting points, the number of Missouri Complete Streets policies have been on a fast upward trend over the past few years:

• 2001 - 0 policies
• 2002 - 1 policy
• 2007 - 3 policies
• 2008 - 5 policies
• 2009 - 5 policies
• 2010 - 13 policies
• 2011 - 20 policies
• 2012 - 22 policies

Missouri's progress on a statewide Complete Streets policy

MoBikeFed and our allies worked for years for the adoption of a statewide Complete Streets policy in the Missouri General Assembly.  That multi-year effort was successful in 2011 with the adoption of HCR 23, the Missouri Complete Streets Resolution. 

HCR 23 expresses support for Complete Streets and urges MoDOT, cities, counties, metropolitan planning organizations, and regional planning councils to follow Complete Streets principles and adopt Complete Streets policies.

We are encouraging MoDOT to continue to work to adopt Complete Streets policy elements in in long range plan, its Engineering Policy Guide, the MoDOT Tracker, and its funding priorities.

One of our major goals is for all funds under MoDOT's proposed new $8 billion transportation funding proposal to be spent under Complete Streets guidelines.  MoDOT is releasing a draft Long-R

Missouri Complete Streets Resolution - 2011

ange Plan, called Missouri On the Move, on November 7th.  MoDOT is promising the most comprehensive and complete bicycle and pedestrian treatment ever in this soon-to-be released plan.

MoDOT has also promised to incorporate bicycle and pedestrian projects into its project list for Missouri On the Move.  The project list will be released prior to the planned November 2014 citizen vote on the new $8 billion Missouri transportation funding proposal.  Members and supporters from all across Missouri submitted over 800 bike/ped project ideas through MoBikeFed's web site as part of the Missouri On the Move public input process last summer.

We are looking for both a representative number of specific bike/ped projects on MoDOT's final project list, and also incorporation of needed bike/ped elements in every road and highway project as appropriate.  In short, we are asking MoDOT to fully incorporate Complete Streets thinking into every dollar they spend of the proposed new funding.

What you can do

Complete Streets in Missouri has a lot of momentum, and we would like to see that momentum continue.

If your city, county, RPC, or MPO does not have a Complete Streets policy, contact your elected leaders or staff and encourage them to do so.  You can send them to our Missouri Complete Streets web page for information and sample policies.

If your city or MPO has adopted a Complete Streets policy, contact them on every road and transportation project, plan, or funding proposal and encourage them to follow through.  Even with a Complete Streets plan in place, our elected leaders and transportation staff need to hear from citizens who support Complete Streets and want to see the policy implemented.

MoBikeFed's Vision of Bicycling and Walking in Missouri expresses our goal for Complete Streets in Missouri: Complete Streets policies adopted by the Missouri Department of Transportation and by every level of government that makes decisions about transportation planning and funding – cities, counties, regional planning councils, and metropolitan planning organizations.