By Commissioner Hal Valeche

Whether you want to drive, bike, walk, or ride the bus, your local government places a priority on designing thoroughfare road improvements to provide the safest, most convenient means of travel. As Vice Chair of the Transportation Planning Agency (TPA), formerly known as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), I am pleased that we have adopted the Complete Streets Policy and Design Guidelines.

Complete Streets is not just some cute name for road projects. It is a nationally recognized plan implemented by the Florida Department of Transportation in 2015 to give guidance to state and local agencies on designing roads that are safer for all users of all ages and abilities including pedestrians and bicyclists in addition to motorists. Along with safety, Complete Streets designs promote quality of life, enhance property values, encourage physical activity and reduce negative environmental impacts.

The design guidelines take into account the type of road corridors, whether urban, suburban or rural, and recommend enhancing and separating the pedestrian zone and bicycle facilities from the vehicle lanes. For example, roads with speeds of 50 mph or greater may require greater separation between the through lane and a raised separator.  Alternately, if driveway density or drainage concerns prevent the introduction of separated bike lanes, other means of buffering are available. You will see an increasing number of locations where bike lanes have a raised surface or are painted bright green.

Road right-of-way width and speed limit are key factors in determining what can be included in the design.

Another new concept promoted by Complete Streets is installing on-street parking in the roadway realm, creating further separation of the travel lanes from the bike and pedestrian zones. Within the pedestrian zone, designs call for sidewalks that are wider, multi-use shared paths, accompanied by benches, trees and lighting.

An example of a Complete Streets project now underway is the redesign of US1 in the Village of Tequesta. That section of roadway is going through a "road diet" – a term of art used to describe the reduction of total travel lanes and repurposing the space for other uses. The construction will include eliminating the outside northbound and southbound lanes, leaving two lanes in each direction. The project will provide wider turn lanes, buffered bike lanes and patterned pavement crosswalks, a resurfaced roadway, sidewalk, drainage and lighting improvements, pedestrian and mast arm signalization, vehicle detection systems, signage, and pavement marking upgrades.

Experts in transportation, medicine, and urban planning have studied the benefits of concepts incorporated in the Complete Streets designs. Their findings include the following:

• People who live in neighborhoods with sidewalks on roads are 47% more likely to be active at least 30 minutes per day.
• Pedestrian street activity increases support of local businesses, expands employment opportunities, and promotes reinvestment into the local economy.
• If 100,000 drivers instead took bike trips once a month, it would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 3,764 tons per year.
• Every $1 communities invest in transit generates $4 in economic returns.
• Homes with higher Walk Scores sell for between $4,000 and $34,000 more.
• Increased pedestrian street activity acts as self-policing, deterring criminal behavior.

 
You can read more about the Complete Streets policy at www.palmbeachtpa.org.
As always, I welcome your input and if there is any way that my staff and I can be of any assistance to you, please contact us at (561) 355-2201 or by email at hvaleche@pbcgov.org.