Tacoma Passes final Complete Streets Guidelines: Gets Props from National Complete Streets Coalition

On Tuesday night the outgoing Tacoma City Council passed finalized guidelines for complete streets in the city. A few years ago they passed a resolution supporting complete streets but this vote was a bold step forward in implementing complete streets throughout Tacoma.

Here is the blurb in the e-mail I got from the national complete streets coalition:

Tacoma, WA: Final drafts of the city's Complete Streets Design Guidelines went before the City Council Study Session on November 10. The Design Guidelines are a comprehensive, citywide approach that will safely accommodate all users and contain cost-effective tools and implementation steps. The City Council adopted a resolution endorsing the Guidelines on November 17.

Congratulations to our friends at the City of Tacoma for this bold step forward and the national recognition.

I leave you with the coalitions quote from LaHood for some inspiration:

"We need safer roadways. We need roadways designed to account for the needs of everyone who uses them, whether driving, walking, or riding in a wheelchair or on a bicycle..... The great thing about this Complete Streets approach to road planning is that it's actually cheaper to plan for multiple road uses ahead of time than to retrofit roadways after they are built and someone gets injured or killed."
- Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, commenting on his meeting with Transportation for America, National Complete Streets Coalition, AARP, America Bikes, the American Public Health Association, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, and Smart Growth America