2.
Council Work Session
- Meeting Date:
- 10/05/2020
- TITLE
- Complete Streets Progress Report
- PRESENTED BY:
- Elyse Monat
- Department:
- Planning & Community Services
- Division:
- Planning
RECOMMENDATION
City Council has already adopted by Resolution the Complete Streets Policy in 2016 (see attached). The Complete Streets Progress Report is an information item intended to update City Council on progress made relative to the already adopted policy. No action is required.
BACKGROUND (Consistency with Adopted Plans and Policies, if applicable)
The Planning Division is presenting the City of Billings Complete Streets Progress Report 2020.
Due to a growing recognition that Complete Streets make communities healthier, safer, and improve the quality of life, the City of Billings adopted the first Complete Streets Policy (the Policy) in 2011 and updated it in 2016. Along with 1,500 other Complete Streets policies implemented across the United States as of 2020, the Policy ensures that people traveling by all modes of transportation have a safe way to get where they are going. There is no one specific design for a Complete Street, because each Complete Street responds to the needs of the local community. According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, Complete Streets may include: “sidewalks, bike lanes (or wide paved shoulders), special bus lanes, comfortable and accessible public transportation stops, frequent and safe crossing opportunities, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, narrower travel lanes, roundabouts, and more.”
The City updated the Policy in May of 2016 and added a checklist to clarify the application of the Policy elements. The updated Policy also provides opportunity for public comment for projects on arterial roadways at the 30% design phase.
This report is a tool for the evaluation and tracking of the impact of Complete Streets elements on the city’s transportation system. The first report was presented to the City Council in 2013 as the Complete Streets Benchmark Report. The 2013 report established the baseline data for future reports. The Benchmark Report also specified that progress reports would be published every three years. The first progress report was published in 2017.
The City of Billings, along with its partners Healthy By Design, Living Independently for Today and Tomorrow, and RiverStone Health worked together to produce the 2020 report. The report covers Complete Streets related milestones, data-based performance measures, and takes a specific look at how streets can be inclusive of people with disabilities.
The draft report is attached to this memo. This draft contains placeholders for sidewalk inventory. The GIS division is currently compiling the sidewalk inventory and will have it ready by Monday afternoon on 10/5/2020. Before the work session, Elyse Monat, Active Transportation Planner, will send an updated draft with the sidewalk inventory included. This information will also be included in the presentation.
Due to a growing recognition that Complete Streets make communities healthier, safer, and improve the quality of life, the City of Billings adopted the first Complete Streets Policy (the Policy) in 2011 and updated it in 2016. Along with 1,500 other Complete Streets policies implemented across the United States as of 2020, the Policy ensures that people traveling by all modes of transportation have a safe way to get where they are going. There is no one specific design for a Complete Street, because each Complete Street responds to the needs of the local community. According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, Complete Streets may include: “sidewalks, bike lanes (or wide paved shoulders), special bus lanes, comfortable and accessible public transportation stops, frequent and safe crossing opportunities, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, narrower travel lanes, roundabouts, and more.”
The City updated the Policy in May of 2016 and added a checklist to clarify the application of the Policy elements. The updated Policy also provides opportunity for public comment for projects on arterial roadways at the 30% design phase.
This report is a tool for the evaluation and tracking of the impact of Complete Streets elements on the city’s transportation system. The first report was presented to the City Council in 2013 as the Complete Streets Benchmark Report. The 2013 report established the baseline data for future reports. The Benchmark Report also specified that progress reports would be published every three years. The first progress report was published in 2017.
The City of Billings, along with its partners Healthy By Design, Living Independently for Today and Tomorrow, and RiverStone Health worked together to produce the 2020 report. The report covers Complete Streets related milestones, data-based performance measures, and takes a specific look at how streets can be inclusive of people with disabilities.
The draft report is attached to this memo. This draft contains placeholders for sidewalk inventory. The GIS division is currently compiling the sidewalk inventory and will have it ready by Monday afternoon on 10/5/2020. Before the work session, Elyse Monat, Active Transportation Planner, will send an updated draft with the sidewalk inventory included. This information will also be included in the presentation.
ALTERNATIVES
No action is required, therefore no alternatives are provided.
FISCAL EFFECTS
There are no fiscal effects associated with this item. It is informational only.