St. Louis County Complete Streets bill proposed

St. Louis County isn't exactly known as a haven for cyclists.  The county recently received national attention--all of it negative--when the County Highway Department's spokesman made a number of derogatory comments about bicyclists.

“We’re a highway department; not a bicycle department.”

- November 23, 2011, on STLToday.com

“As a matter of policy, we don’t build dedicated bike lanes. St. Louis County salutes the bike-riding community, but we manage our system in the knowledge that motor vehicles comprise the vast majority of our customer base.”

- June 18, 2013, CBS St. Louis

So it was a bit of a surprise to find that the County is given consideration to adopting one of the strongest and most thoroughgoing Complete Streets policies we've seen.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the introduction of the policy proposal in the County Council: 

Trailnet

Advocates for more bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly St. Louis County roads are urging the County Council to pass comprehensive “Complete Streets” legislation similar to ordinances in the city of St. Louis, Ferguson and other cities around the state and country.

A “Complete Street” is “designed with all users in mind — motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, the elderly and the disabled,” according to the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation.

The bill will be up for final passage this week and appears to have the votes to pass.

Trailnet, a local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organization, has been lobbying for the ordinance.

“This will make it easier for people to walk or bike to the grocery store, to the park or work or school,” said Rhonda Smythe, Trailnet policy and advocacy manager. “It’s for people from 8 to 80, moms with strollers and people using mobility assistance devices.”

Unfortunately, objections by the County Highway Department slowed the bill's progress:

Faced with funding questions from highway department officials, the St. Louis County Council on Tuesday held off on a vote that could ultimately improve access for bicyclists and pedestrians along county roads.

Councilman Pat Dolan, the co-sponsor of the bill, joined Trailnet official Rhonda Smythe in predicting passage of the measure, perhaps as early as next week.

Trailnet, a nonprofit group that promotes healthy lifestyle alternatives, is the driving force behind the expansion of the Complete Streets program in the county.

Trailnet has issued a Complete Streets Fact Sheet with more information about Complete Streets and how it works.

The St. Louis Beacon talks about the issues in some detail:

“The millennials and the boomers and everybody – it’s a big request on their part to be a more multi-modal region and pedestrian and bike friendly,” Dolan said. “Now all this is in place so they have a guideline, they have collaboration with a bunch of agencies for the future.”

Symthe said the bill isn’t trying to “retrofit to everything.” She pointed to an already-scheduled road resurfacing, which created a good opportunity to “put a bike lane in without breaking the bank.”

“What we had seen with passing the Complete Streets policy in 2010 with St. Louis city was that it really helped improve the infrastructure and the built environment,” she said. “And it helped to create a more walkable and bikeable St. Louis.”

The bill currently proposed by Dolan and other co-sponsors is very comprehensive and very closely tracks best-practice national recommendations for Complete Streets policies from the National Complete Streets Coaltion.

Even a basic statement of support for Complete Streets principles would be a huge step forward for the County.  But the adoption of the complete legislation as currently proposed would be an amazing turnaround indeed.

Stay tuned--because this issue is still under intense discussion in St. Louis County.

Download the current version of the proposed bill here (DOC format).

Encouraging Missouri communities to adopt Complete Streets policies is one of the top goals of MoBikeFed's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri.  Complete Streets has been a tremendous success in Missouri, with over a million Missourians now living in a city with a Complete Streets policy, and over three million Missourians living in a metropolitan planning organization with a Complete Streets policy.  Find out more about Complete Streets in Missouri--and how your community can adopt a Complete Streets policy--here.  Your membership and support helps bring Complete Streets to Missouri.

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