Complete streets in New York State

New York State’s legislature passed a complete streets bill to require that planners consider bike and pedestrian friendly features when designing and building roads. Over the last ten years, 3000 pedestrians have died on New York roads. While advocates for safer street design wanted more stringent safety requirements, the cost of design improvements weighed in and a compromise was struck: “Some highway superintendents complained about the cost of adding bike lanes and similar features to road projects. So the bill was changed in a late negotiation to require them in the design phase, while making their implementation optional if they’d put a project over budget. A town or county cannot be sued if it chooses not to install complete street features for budgetary reasons.” Read more here.