Complete Streets

RELATED TOPICS: Plan Development, Transit, Connected Multimodal Networks

Complete streets are designed to enable safe and convenient access for all road users and foster transportation equity, healthy lifestyles, and vibrant communities. Complete streets incorporate context sensitive solutions, so each one is unique. Design features of a complete street may include sidewalks, bicycle lanes, crosswalks, raised crosswalks, medians, bus pullouts, special bus lanes, audible pedestrian signals, sidewalk bulb-outs, and more. Complete streets in rural areas can look quite different from those in urban areas; however, both are designed to balance safety and convenience for everyone.

In 2015, the United States government passed the first Federal transportation bill that referred to complete streets. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act requires state DOTs to account for all potential users of the roadways in their designs and design alternatives. This is reinforced by a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) memorandum that supports a flexible approach to bicycle and pedestrian facility design, including the use of design guides like the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Urban Street Design Guide. Complete Streets policies are in place across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. While complete streets policies have gained popularity, more than 40 percent of the adopted policies are non-binding resolutions, and there is still a need to focus on implementation by incorporating complete streets into regulations and design standards.

Resources

The National Complete Streets Coalition of Smart Growth America
Smart Growth America
Serves as a leading organization on the topic of complete streets and hosts a number of resources, tools, and examples to help agencies develop streets that work for everyone.

Complete Streets—Safety Analysis
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Identifies and describes current capabilities, best practices, and future data and analysis needs for quantifying the safety performance effects of multiple safety treatments.

From Policy to Practice: A Guide to Measuring Complete Streets Progress
National Complete Streets Coalition, Smart Growth America
Outlines strategies for local agencies to effectively measure the impacts and equity of Complete Streets policies.

Strategies for Accelerating Multimodal Project Delivery
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Offers ways to mitigate challenges and delays in the project development process for a complete street.

Complete Streets: Model Legislation for States and Municipalities
AARP
Provides a guide for establishing effective Complete Streets legislation.

More Resources >

Examples

CTDOT Complete Streets Design Criteria to Improve Roadway Safety and Enhance Mobility
Connecticut DOT
Announces that CTDOT implemented new Complete Streets design criteria.

Removing Red Tape for Complete Streets Projects in Small Rural Communities
LSU AgCenter Healthy Communities
Addresses the barriers to implementing Complete Streets projects in rural Louisiana.

Best Complete Streets Policies of 2023
Smart Growth America
Evaluates and scores Complete Streets policies passed in 11 communities using a standardized set of 10 best-practice scoring elements.

Complete Streets Transformations
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Provides six examples of how to apply a Complete Streets Implementation Strategy to transform arterial roadways.

Complete Streets Construction Cost Case Studies
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Provides Complete Streets Construction Cost Case Studies.