Title
Resolution Proclaiming the City of Ann Arbor’s Commitment to Complete Streets
Memorandum
The State of Michigan recently adopted new Complete Streets legislation by enactment of Public Act 134 of 2010, which amended requirements of the Michigan Planning Enabling Act, and Public Act 135 of 2010, which amended the Michigan Transportation Fund law. The State’s recent action establishes policies to encourage transportation projects on all levels of government throughout the state to take all road users into account. In recognition of this new state law, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has revised project competitiveness guidelines for the state’s Transportation Enhancement (TE) program. These new guidelines give funding preference to “Projects supporting a community’s Complete Streets policy.”
For the City to be recognized as being aligned with Michigan’s new law and in line with the national “Complete Streets” movement, the following information and proposed resolution have been drafted for City Council’s consideration.
The City of Ann Arbor maintains a decades-old commitment to a Complete Streets philosophy for transportation planning, project development and delivery. A “Complete Street” is one planned, designed and maintained to comfortably accommodate pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and motorists of all ages and ability levels. While there is no standard complete street design in the newly adopted state law, Complete Streets often feature elements such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, full-featured transit stops, pedestrian and bicycle oriented traffic signals, medians, pedestrian crossing islands, and curb extensions.
The National Complete Streets Coalition, a non-profit association organized for the purpose of advancing and contributing to the advancement of the concept of Complete Streets, has identified ten elements of a comprehensive complete streets policy. The ten elements include:
1. A vision
2. A comprehensive pol...
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