Identify, prioritize and remedy complete streets gaps and lack of connectivity/safety within your road network by, for example, bike/pedestrian plan, adding a bike route/lane, truck route, sidewalk or mid-block alley.
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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Hold a walkability/bikeability workshop; remedy at least one complete street gap, including using alleys; identify an American Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator. Report green alley projects under BPA 17.5. |
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Complete a bicycle/pedestrian plan; inspect, evaluate, inventory and map your roadway network for complete streets insufficiencies and develop a prioritized transition plan and timeline for remedying the insufficiencies and gaps; ADA Coordinator completes the training certification program within last 3 years; adopt a policy goal that all new street construction and repairs require sidewalks to be installed. Pay particular attention to multimodal conflict areas and transit connections to serve users and destinations. |
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Routinely budget complete streets improvements through roadway & bridge capital improvement & maintenance projects; show project cost-savings through innovative/collaborative efforts with other jurisdictions/stakeholders; address street corridor issues by infill, adding bridge liner (retail on a bridge to be rebuilt in a walkable corridor), etc. |
Resources
- See BPA 12.1 for more on walking, biking, and transit access.
Walkability/Bikeability:
- Engaging community members is essential in identifying gaps and in helping make a place more welcoming and livable with pedestrian-friendly street changes. A walk audit (a simple, lightly structured amble of 60-90-minutes with a group of 5-35 people) unlocks many insights and inspires problem-solving that is both creative and grounded in real life.
- Use the Minnesota Walks (2016) - a framework for action for creating safe, convenient and desirable walking and rolling for all.
- See the AARP Walk Audit Tool Kit.
- MN Dept. of Transportation pedestrian resources include planning and research, design and engineering, grants and funding, and safety education.
- The AARP Bike Audit Tool Kit guides users through a step-by-step approach to observing and documenting the safe or unsafe bikeability of a location. The results of a community bike audit can educate local decision-makers and provide them with data and solution strategies for achieving needed change.
- MN Dept. of Transportation bicycling resources include safety education, planning and research, design and engineering, routes/tails/maps, and grants and funding.
- Also see Designing for All Ages & Abilities: Contextual Guidance for High-Comfort Bicycle Facilities (National Association of City Transportation Officials: 2017).
- The walkable, tree-lined multi-way boulevard is a road design standard for reconfiguring strip mall parking to keep in front while adding trees and a continuous, inviting walkable environment with resulting benefits in retail sales.
Gap Remedies:
- The Dakota County Office of Planning conducted a gap analysis for the county in 2009, and scored each gap using the following categories: housing density-40 points, employment density-10, shopping density-10, distance to schools-10, density of households in poverty-5, traffic volume-5, average speed-5, number of lanes-5, connectivity (density of intersections)-5, transit access-5.
American Disabilities Act (ADA):
- The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The ADA requires local entities with over 50 employees to designate an ADA Coordinator.
- See the Great Plains ADA Center training and certification program and ADA National Network for additional information and resources.
Order Number
4
Action Type
Finite