Complete Streets

Here you can find news and background information on the Complete Streets movement in Spokane.

We have a series of topical fact sheets you can print and share.

Printable Fact Sheets: (updated 2/15/2012)

Pedestrian Fact Sheet
Bike Fact Sheet
Health Fact Sheet
Youth Fact Sheet
Older Americans Fact Sheet
Transit Fact Sheet
Accessibility Fact Sheet
Hidden Costs of Driving
How much do they cost?

Huge victory for Spokane!

For over three years, Futurewise worked with the City of Spokane to create an effective Complete Street Policy, writing the policy, educating the community and policy makers, and building a wide coalition of supporters from health care workers, unions, educators, and local businesses.  Last week, the City of Spokane adopted the Complete Street Policy by a vote of 5 to 2. Thank you for your hard work, your letters, your petition signatures and sharing, your testimony, your expertise, and for sticking with this long campaign! We are not finished, but we are over the hump.

Next steps for 2012: Stay tuned for more info on these upcoming decisions that will affect Complete Streets! With your help we can continue to support this common sense approach to transportation policy with the new Mayor and Council.

• We need to ensure that our next street repair bond reflects the intent of the ordinance to accommodate all users. Our current street bond only pays for curb to curb (meaning the vehicle part of the road only) repairs. In many cases it did not even cover the repainting of crosswalks, and flatly prohibited use of the funds for things like sidewalk repair.
  Tell Mayor Condon's transition team you want to see complete streets in Spokane! Ask them to support following the Comprehensive Plan by addressing all the users of the street (pedestrians, bicycles where called for in the bicycle master plan, and transit access for wheelchairs on transit routes) when a major street project is done instead of taking a piecemeal approach to building and maintaining our streets. The team has a form for your feedback here.
  
• The City of Spokane will be updating the transportation chapter of the comprehensive plan and finishing up the pedestrian plan this year. We need to ensure that this update reflects the needs of all users of our transportation system and is also realistic rather than just aspirational.
  
• At the regional level we will be looking to create and implement complete streets policies in our Regional Transportation Planning Organization and at other jurisdictions in Spokane County.
  

Background

Spokane’s twenty year old Comprehensive Plan’s transportation goals give priority to pedestrians, transit riders and non motorized travelers over vehicles. But the reality on the ground has long been a stark contrast to these policies. Complete Streets policies are everywhere in the Plan, but in far too many cases they were not being implemented when new streets were built, nor when major street repair projects were implemented.  For example, in the Plan sidewalks are required on all streets in Spokane, but due to lack of implementation the city has 650 miles of missing sidewalks.  Many of these areas are around schools, diminishing walking and biking rates amongst our youth.  There are also numerous sidewalks missing along bus routes, making access to bus stops difficult or impossible for people with limited mobility and forcing them to rely on paratransit at six times the cost of using a fixed bus route.  In a community with a 43% poverty rate and a large population of citizens with disabilities, lack of pedestrian infrastructure is a significant barrier to mobility.

Futurewise developed the Complete Streets ordinance and led a broad coalition of community leaders and health, housing, and human service organizations to ensure adoption.  Now when the City does a major street repair project or when a new street is constructed the City will have to include building/repairing sidewalks, putting in wheelchair ramps, repainting crosswalks and putting in bike lines where called for in the bicycle master plan. The Complete Street Policy will end the practice of designing streets and completing maintenance and transportation projects aimed solely at vehicle infrastructure that ignores the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and people with disabilities.

Listen to Kitty's interview with KPBX:

http://newscast.kpbx.org/current/20111220_1200_complete_streets.mp3

 

Read one of the print articles: about the decision: 

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/article-17246-forest-for-the-trees.html

http://councilmanjonsnyder.com/?p=1493&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/dec/20/city-council-backs-complete-streets-rules/

 

Futurewise Complete Streets Facebook:

 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=218510767455#!/groups/143275032410557/

Futurewise is proud to have several organizations joining in this cause.

About 500 individuals signed our petition and wrote letters. About Sixty people testified at various hearings and 275 very engaged individuals participate on our Complete Streets facebook group as well as three hard working interns, Jackie Caro, Sarah Sirott and Michelle Swanson who worked extensively on this project. They putt in countless hours on research tabled at events all summer long, created 7 fact sheets and two Complete Streets Zines and will do more as this effort grows.

Agencies who helped educate us about relevant issues were Spokane Regional Health District, Spokane County Commute Trip Reduction, Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern WA, Spokane Regional Transportation Council, the City of Spokane Bicycle Advisory Board, and the Pedestrian Transportation and Traffic Committee of the Community Assembly.

Key Elected officials were, Mayor Mary Verner who directed staff to work with our coalition to create the ordinance and subsequent executive order. City Council members Jon Snyder-who took the lead, Richard Rush, and Amber Waldref, who helped us organize and advance, and Council member Steve Corker and Council President Joe Shogan who voted yes twice! Our state legislators Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown (who also wrote a letter in Support of the Spokane Policy), Rep. Andy Billig (who is working on transportation and health legislation in 2012), and Representative Timm Ormsby all voted to create legislation that supports complete streets policies through a grant program. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell voted for complete streets at the federal level helping us make the case locally.

Organization leadership from the YMCA of the Inland Northwest, The Lands Council, Coalition of Responsible Disabled, National Complete Streets Coalition, Greater Spokane Progress, Center for Justice, Community Building Foundation, Eastern Washington Voters, Fuse Washington, Northwest Fair Housing Alliance, OutSpokane, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, Pedals2People, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, SEIU Healthcare 775 NW, Spokane AIDS Network, Spokane Riverkeeper, Washington Education Association - Eastern Washington, Next Up Spokane, Bike to Work Spokane, Bikes for Homeless Vets, , Bicycle Alliance of Washington, Inland Northwest Rail Association, Transportation Choices Coalition, Cascade Bicycle Club were critical to our successes.

Businesses who contributed significantly by weighing in, hosting events, etc. were Lighthouse for the Blind, Mountain Gear Inc., Rings & Things, Wells and Company, Studio Cascade, Kizuri, Jone’s Radiator, Pacific Pizza, Auntie’s Bookstore, Boo Radley’s, Atticus Coffee and gifts, Two Wheel Transit, Spokane Rocket Velo, Judy’s Enchanted Garden, Wells and Company, Bike Style Spokane, Jewelry Design Center, Interplayer’s Theatre, Sun People Dry Goods, The Scoop, The Montvale Hotel, Old World Christmas, KYRS Community Radio Station, and Second Look Books.

Pick up the latest issue of
the Complete Streets Zine!

Futurewise presents The Pedestrian Zine, the second in a series of Complete Streets Zines. Now Available at Atticus, Auntie's Bookstore, Boo Radley's and Kizuri. The Downtown Public Library has it in the green reference section and table copies are available for you to read in house in select local coffee shops.

Our Community needs streets that are designed to be safe and convenient for travel by automobile, foot, bicycle and transit regardless of age or ability.

Background:

Last year 5 out of 7 Spokane City Council members voted to create a complete streets policy. However the city has not yet adopted the proposed Complete Streets ordinance that came out of this process.

Thanks to a broad coalition effort to create safe and complete streets in Spokane including Futurewise members who spoke up and got their friends and neighbors to do the same, the creation of a complete streets ordinance is moving forward.  Your attendance, letters, emails, facebook statuses, tweets, blogs and outreach to your friends and neighbors made this possible and your continued support will help us see Complete Streets come to fruition! Stay tuned for your next opportunity to support the adoption of this important policy.

Issue I The Bike Zine! See a review here.

Complete Streets Spokane

Pedestrian and cyclist deaths are nothing short of tragic, especially when so many of these accidents are preventable with simple changes to how our streets are designed. Congress, Washington State and the City of Spokane can take an easy step to ensure that transportation dollars spent on our streets results in safer streets for people on foot or bike by adopting Complete Streets Policies.

In Spokane County a recent study showed that very few people in our region know what complete streets are, but when they are told, more than 2/3 of our neighbors support them! This means that letting people know about Complete Streets will secure support for more transportation choices and a safer environment for cyclists and pedestrians in greater Spokane.


There are so many ways to get involved locally!

• Pick up an issue of the Complete Streets Zine at the following locations; Atticus, Aunties Bookstore, Boo Radley's, Two Wheel Transit, The Scoop.
• Let your friends know that you support complete streets make a T-shirt on Friday June 17th!
• Join your neighborhood council and educate them about complete streets or invite Futurewise to give a presntation.
• Join the Complete Streets Spokane II Facebook Group.
• Tell your friends and neighbors about Complete Streets.
• Want more info--we have got loads of links and even a powerpoint here!