On September 16, the Streets for All coalition gathered supporters to testify on County Executive Calvin Ball’s proposed complete streets resolution in front of the Howard County Council. Read the full text of the resolution (PDF).
This resolution is a good launching point to get us closer to streets that are more accessible and safe for children to walk to school, for people to be more physically active and for people with disabilities and older adults to travel easily and independently. However, we believe it can be improved with added performance measures, better transparency, more community engagement and more efficient and accountable implementation. And, we need to codify the policy into law so future generations of county residents will enjoy the benefits of complete streets.
Tell your elected officials that Howard County deserves a world-class complete streets law.
We need a law that will:
- Prioritize communities facing the greatest challenges and state a clear goal for streets to serve all users;
- Design complete streets as a default, with limited but clear exceptions;
- Include measures that capture additional outcome data such as: whether the changes improved walkability, bikeability, access, etc.;
- Include measures of progress for communities that have historically been left behind and ensure an inclusive community engagement process; and
- Set up reasonable timelines for completing milestones, including the design manual.
“A law with these measures will build on the vision of this resolution to ensure we are building a more bikeable and walkable Howard County for future generations, no matter who holds elected office or runs county departments,” said Nikki Highsmith Vernick, president and CEO of the Horizon Foundation.
We anticipate a council vote on the resolution in early October. Take action by telling the County Executive and your councilmember to take the next step by introducing a strong, comprehensive, world-class complete streets law.
Meet our new lead partner!
We are thrilled to officially welcome AARP Maryland as a lead partner of the Streets for All coalition!
With 875,000 members in Maryland, AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. More information is online at www.aarp.org/md.