‘Complete Streets’ measure draws ire of the GOP, RCOC

An article by Kirk Pinho    3 Comments

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners will consider tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 18, asking the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) to report back to the board in six months on the status of implementing a plan for non-motorized pathways and the adoption of a so-called “Complete Streets” program.

As defined in the requesting resolution under consideration, “Complete Streets” is “a design framework that enables safe and convenient access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and drivers of all ages and abilities.”

It was modeled after a resolution passed by the Grand Haven City Council.

The proposed 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.

If passed, the resolution would request the RCOC to adopt Complete Streets into its strategic planning process; develop a Non-motorized Transportation Plan that includes accommodations for accessibility, sidewalks, curb ramps and cuts, trails and pathways, signage, bike lanes, and the principles of Complete Streets; and to maximize walkable and bikeable streets in Oakland County.

The resolution would also request the RCOC plan for, design, and construct all transportation improvement projects, both new and retrofit activities, to provide appropriate accommodations for bicyclists, pedestrian, transit users, and persons of all ages and abilities.

“It’s a program I wholeheartedly support,” said County Commissioner Marcia Gershenson (D-West Bloomfield). “It’s just basically a request to the road commission for, when they are involved in any future planning, to consider the whole community. We see Complete Streets as a step towards healthier lifestyles. It’s not going to be feasible in every scenario, but just to be part of the planning process.

“We’d like to just start encouraging that all in an effort to reduce health care costs and the costs of doing business in Oakland County,” she said.

County Commissioner Philip Weipert (R-Walled Lake, Wixom) said the resolution likely won’t have his support.

“To the extent that this resolution tries to force the road commission to interfere with the towns, that may cause a little divisiveness on the commission,” he said. “Conceptually, I don’t think there is one commissioner that is not for a lot of these state programs and letting downtown development authorities and towns governing themselves to come up with road plans. This resolution is telling the road commission to tell the towns what to do.”

As proposed, it also won’t have the support of County Commissioner John Scott (R-Waterford, West Bloomfield).

“It says something about copying the Grand Haven resolution,” said Scott, who voted against the resolution in the General Government Committee when it cleared that panel in a 5-4 vote on Monday, Aug. 8. “I don’t know what the Grand Haven resolution was. How can I vote on something if I don’t know what I’m voting for? If I wanted to do that, I should be in Congress.”

Scott added that he supports “some of the concepts” that are involved in Complete Streets, but he plans on voting against the measure again at the full board meeting tomorrow.

RCOC Spokesman Craig Bryson said the agency’s “biggest concern” is that the resolution is premature given that a state review committee has been established to study the issue and come up with model Complete Streets policies that can be adopted by local units of government, and that panel’s work is still another one to two years away from being completed.

“We want to see what the state advisory committee comes up with,” Bryson said, adding that the RCOC already has established its own study committee and they’ve “just begun to scratch the surface” on the matter.

“We have heard this loud and clear from our residents — they want bike paths, and they want safe ways to walk. They want walkable communities,” Gershenson said.