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The Complete Streets Advisory Council will meet at 2 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Capitol Commons Center, 400 S. Pine St., in Lansing. The meeting is open to the public.
The 16-member council was appointed in accordance with Public Act 135 of 2010. The group’s role, according to law, is to advise the State Transportation Commission, county road commissions and municipalities on Complete Streets policies. The law also requires the State Transportation Commission to enact a Complete Streets policy by August 2012. A “complete street” refers to a roadway that provides appropriate access to all legal users, including motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians and those traveling by assistive devices, such as wheelchairs.
If you need special assistance to attend the Nov. 17 meeting, contact Dorothy Thompson:
Michelle Myers,
Departmental Specialist
Intermodal Policy Division
Michigan Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 30050, 425 W. Ottawa
Lansing, Michigan 48909
Complete Streets Advisory Council members represent road and transit agencies, state agencies, walking and biking organizations, and environmental, senior citizens and disabled persons groups. More information is available online at: www.michigan.gov/completestreets
The next regular meeting of the Complete Streets Advisory Council will be held on Thursday, September 29, 2011 in the Capitol Commons Center, 400 South Pine, Lansing, Michigan, commencing at the hour of 2:00 p.m.
All meetings of the Complete Streets Advisory Council are open to the public, and attendance is encouraged. Any individuals needing special assistance to attend the meeting should contact Michelle Myers in the Intermodal Policy Division at 517-241-0754. For those who cannot attend the meeting in person, but would like to listen to the proceedings, they can do so through a conference phone line by calling 877-873-8018 and using access code 6081517. Callers can submit their public comments in writing to:
Michelle Myers,
Departmental Specialist
Intermodal Policy Division
Michigan Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 30050, 425 W. Ottawa
Lansing, Michigan 48909
The meeting agenda is as follows:
- Welcome
- Approve Draft Minutes from July 28, 2011 meeting
- Public Comment
- Presentation on Torts and Liability
- Presentation on Context Sensitive Solutions
- Break
- Review Submitted Sample Policy Items
- Review Preliminary Draft Report
- Public Comment
- Adjournment
Draft minutes from the July 28th meeting can be downloaded at:
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9623_31969_57564—,00.html
The next regular meeting of the Complete Streets Advisory Council will be held on Thursday, July 28, 2011 in the Capital Commons Center, 400 South Pine, Lansing, MI, commencing at the hour of 2:00 p.m.
The 16-member council was appointed last fall in accordance with Public Act 135 of 2010. The group’s role, according to law, is to advise the State Transportation Commission, county road commissions and municipalities on Complete Streets policies. The law also requires the State Transportation Commission to enact a Complete Streets policy by August 2012. A “complete street” refers to a roadway that provides appropriate access to all legal users, including motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians and those traveling by assistive devices such as wheelchairs.
All meetings of the Complete Streets Advisory Council are open to the public, and attendance is encouraged. Any individuals needing special assistance to attend the meeting should contact Michelle Myers in the Intermodal Policy Division at 517-241-0754. For those who cannot attend the meeting in person, but would like to listen to the proceedings, they can do so through a conference phone line by calling 877-873-8018 and using pass code 3327994#. Callers can submit their public comments in writing to:
Michelle Myers, Departmental Specialist
Intermodal Policy Division
Michigan Department of Transportation
PO Box 30050, 425 W. Ottawa
Lansing, MI 48909
[email protected]
Complete Streets Advisory Council members represent road and transit agencies, state agencies, walking and biking organizations, and environmental, senior citizens and disabled persons groups. More information is available on the MDOT Web site at: www.michigan.gov/completestreets.
We are pleased to report that the much anticipated Complete Streets Advisory Council met for the first time on April 27. The Council elected Suzanne Schulz (Michigan Municipal League/Grand Rapids DDA) as Chair, John Niemela (County Road Association of Michigan) as Vice Chair and Andrea Brown (Michigan Association of Planning) as Secretary.
In addition to electing officers, the Council made decisions on how meetings will be conducted and had a lively conversation about potential presentations and topics of discussions for future meetings. The Council will meet quarterly, with the next meeting scheduled for sometime in July. Below you will find a DRAFT copy of detailed meeting minutes.
By Kathryn Gray, Public Policy Specialist - Disability Network/Lakeshore, Lakeshore Friends of Transit
Complete Streets advocates hit another milestone last night!
I am excited to announce that the City of Holland unanimously passed a Complete Streets Resolution at their regular City Council session last night. The City of Holland is the second in the Disability Network/Lakeshore’s service area (Allegan + Ottawa counties) to have passed a Complete Streets resolution – the City of Allegan passed their resolution in December of last year.
The City of Holland is one of the local units of government that Disability Network/Lakeshore has been working closely with since the May 2010 Complete Streets Panel Event and the November 2010 Livable Communities Event to develop a Complete Streets Policy. Phil Meyer, Director of Community & Neighborhood Services, Jodi Syens, Director of Transportation Services, and Brian White, City Engineer were all very committed to the process including holding several study sessions in designing the resolution.
City of Holland was eager to pass the policy based on the fact that they already implement many of the concepts of Complete Streets within their planning processes. This policy only supports their current processes and ensures that all users are being considered when designing or reconstructing the City’s transportation network.
“The City has been aggressive about examining complete streets issues in all of its street construction, reconstruction, sidewalk improvement, and bike facility efforts as a matter of normal course of doing business. These issues, often involving participation of neighborhood residents, businesses, and other property owners, are well-considered in the context of the specific conditions of a particular project, as well as in the context of the larger City-wide (and beyond) network” said Phil Meyer, Director of Community & Neighborhood Services. “The most recent example of a positive process and end result was the reconstruction of 40th Street. Also, this past summer, the City participated with the Lakeshore Disability Network in their three-part program looking at livability issues in the community, with a heavy focus on “complete streets” issues. The Network is a very strong advocate for the adoption of complete streets policies across the region, as are a number of other organizations.”
The passage of this resolution moves the count up to 39 for Michigan approved complete streets resolutions or ordinances (that we are aware of). The City of Holland is the third for West Michigan, after the City of Allegan (12/10) and the City of Grand Rapids (3/11).
Congratulations to the City of Holland and West Michigan complete streets supporters!
Marquette Township, Ispeming and Oakland Township adopt complete streets resolutions.
Holland, East Lansing and Lansing Township close.
First meeting scheduled for Complete Streets Advisory Council.
Complete streets continues to gain momentum around the state. Last week, two Upper Peninsula communities, Marquette Township and the City of Ishpeming both passed Complete Streets resolutions. “Marquette Charter Township has been a leader in providing for the health, safety, welfare, and ease of mobility for those preferring non-motorized modes of transit. In 2003 our Planning Commission required that all new or substantially reconstructed roads must provide an adjacent non-motorized alternative. So, moving forward with the Complete Streets process was a natural for us,” said Randy Girard, Township Manager for the Charter Township of Marquette.
We have learned that the City of Marquette is also working on a policy and should be bringing it before City Council within a month or two. When passed this would make three policies withing Marquette County. Our hats off to our partners at the Marquette County Health Department for all their great leadership in moving these policies forward.
According to the Oakland Township Patch, the Oakland County Board of Trustees voted last night to pass a resolution “supporting Michigan Complete Streets program.” We have not seen the actual language of the resolution yet, but are honored to have the official endorsement of the Board of Trustees for our work to advance complete streets across the state. We look forward to working with the Township in helping to advance their efforts to safely accommodate all roadway users.
Oakland Township becomes the second Oakland County township, after Milford Township, to adopt a Complete Streets resolution. As with Milford Township, Oakland Township does not have jurisdiction over roads. It is the Road Commission for Oakland County who owns, builds, and maintains them within the county. The Complete Streets state law passed last August, however, does state that a “county road agency shall consult with the municipality and agree on how to address the respective complete streets policies.” Other townships that have adopted complete streets include Marquette Township, Union Township and Atlas Township. We will be keeping a close eye on these communities to see how the road commissions and townships work together to implement complete streets.
Oakland Township wasn’t the only municipality busy last night advancing complete streets. We learned via our Facebook Page, that the City of Holland Planning Commission passed a complete streets draft resolution which will be sent to the City Council for approval within the next few months. “The Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers (MARP) feels that a complete streets policy will assist in the City of Holland becoming the friendliest city in America,” said John D. Langdon, Governmental / Public Affairs Coordinator for MARP.
Additionally, a steering committee composed of community leaders and local residents in Lansing Township are guiding a process of developing a complete streets ordinance and non-motorized transportation plan. They are hosting townhall meetings tonight and tomorrow evenings (April 13 & 14) to discuss the proposed ordinance. They have also launched a public survey for community members to provide input.
Just down the road, the City of East Lansing is planning to bring their draft ordinance up for a vote within the next couple of months. Hearing news of the progress in Lansing Township and East Lansing to adopt complete streets, Meridian Township Trustee Veenstra expressed interest in following suit. Also in Mid-Michigan, the City of Mason is showing signs of support by featuring complete streets on the front cover of their latest newsletter.
In statewide news, we are pleased to report that the first meeting of the Complete Streets Advisory Council has been scheduled for April 27, 2011, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the VanWagoner Transportation Building, 425 W. Ottawa Street, Lansing. The meeting will be held in the Lakeshore Learning Center Conference Room, located near the first floor lobby.
Today’s (12/13) Complete Streets Advisory Council meeting is canceled due to weather — http://ow.ly/3oefn
Michigan Complete Streets Coalition 