TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Recommend approval of the Complete Streets Policy
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Kelly Dunne, Transportation Project Manager
BACKGROUND:
The City routinely applies for and receives federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) funding for projects such as roadway resurfacing, roadway reconstruction, and other transportation-related capital improvement projects. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) distributes these funds, and recently modified the project selection criteria to include regional performance measures in conformance with federal requirements. Projects are scored on their transportation impact, project readiness, and inclusion of planning factors.
In the upcoming 2019 call for projects, one of the newly incorporated planning factors is that an agency must have an adopted Complete Streets policy in order to score points in that category. To ensure that the City can be competitive in applying for STP funds, staff has developed a formal Complete Streets policy. Projects submitted by the City for STP funding will be eligible for additional points in the planning factors category once the Complete Streets policy has been approved by TAB and City Council.
DISCUSSION:
Complete Streets is the concept that roadways should be designed to safely and conveniently accommodate all users and all travel modes. The City of Naperville’s Complete Streets policy (attached) was developed using guidance and resource materials from CMAP, as well as research of how other communities are encompassing Complete Streets.
While the City has not previously had a formally adopted Complete Streets policy, many of the design elements and philosophies described in the attached policy are already in use. Notably, many components of the City’s established Comprehensive Transportation Plan are also elements of Complete Streets. By adopting this policy, the City will now be formally applying Complete Streets practices as part of transportation projects.