'Complete Streets' request changed, approved by BOC

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners has granted bipartisan approval to an amended resolution requesting that the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) report to the board on its plans to implement a “Complete Streets” policy that conforms with a model policy yet to be drafted by a state panel.

The county board’s approval came on Thursday, Aug. 18, after the RCOC expressed concerns about the board’s original resolution which received the support of the General Government Committee on a party-line vote earlier this month.

As amended, the county board’s resolution recognizes that state lawmakers have enacted legislation requiring the State Transportation Committee to adopt a Complete Streets policy and develop a model Complete Streets policy or policies to be made available for use by local road agencies.

“Really, what changed was that the version that they did adopt acknowledges that the state has a committee that’s studying this,” said RCOC Spokesman Craig Bryson, adding that the approved resolution acknowledges that the road commission has its own panel consisting of RCOC staff and other interested parties studying the Complete Streets concept.

The resolution states that Complete Streets “are achieved when transportation agencies routinely plan, design, construct, reconstruct, operate, and maintain the transportation network to improve travel conditions for bicyclists, pedestrians, transit, and freight in a manner consistent with, and supportive of, the surrounding community.”

“It was very well received,” Bryson said. “I think some of the commissioners didn’t realize that we were already very involved in the (Complete Streets) process.”