The bike rack was overflowing in front of City Hall as over 60 Complete Streets supporters came out to testify before City Council on August 10, 2009.
The Lansing City Council voted unanimously on Monday night to adopt a Complete Streets and Non-Motorized Plan Ordinance. This is a big victory for cyclists and pedestrians in Lansing, and for the Complete Streets movement in Michigan. Lansing becomes the first municipality in the State of Michigan to pass a Complete Streets ordinance, and joins a host of other communities across the state in committing to develop a non-motorized plan.
The effort to pass the ordinance was organized by the Walk and Bike Lansing! Task Force. Led by the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council, the task force is composed of a diverse group of community and state partners, including LMB and MEC. The initiative came to City Council by way of a signature drive, through which volunteers collected over 4,520 signatures of registered Lansing voters. Another 90 letters of support and 60 public comments at a recent Council meeting didn’t hurt, either.
There’s more information on this milestone at the Walk and Bike Lansing! website, but in summary, this ordinance:
- Requires the City of Lansing to adopt a Non- Motorized Network Plan.
- The Non-Motorized Network Plan would include, at a minimum, accommodations for accessibility, sidewalks, curb ramps and cuts, trails and pathways, signage, and bike lanes, and shall incorporate the principles of Complete Streets and maximize walkable and bikeable streets within the City.
- To the extent financially feasible, future construction or reconstruction of City rights-of- way or any parts thereof shall be in conformity with the Non-Motorized Network Plan.
- Sets a goal to adequately funding walk- and bike-friendly infrastructure. (The City of Lansing currently spends 2% to 3% for non-motorized facilities. The ordinance sets a goal of 5% for future budget years).
- Require an update of the Non-Motorized Network Plan every five years from the date of adoption.
Congratulations, Lansing! Here’s to hoping other Michigan communities and road agencies follow your lead!
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Get Email Updates
Contact Us
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
August 26, 2009 at 5:02 pm
League of Michigan Bicyclists
Here’s a link to the inspiring public testimony at City Council that helped to get the Complete Streets ordinance passed (Note: Complete Streets testimony starts at 37:30)
http://citytv.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=b984536e3d1a562312166417db963ed0
Additional media coverage
LSJ (8/26): http://bit.ly/14sMBx
City Pulse (8/19): http://bit.ly/Dac2u
April 16, 2010 at 4:05 pm
MML Features Complete Streets at Capitol Conference « Michigan Complete Streets Coalition
[...] Lansing’s recent citizen driven Complete Streets initiative which led to the adoption of first Complete Streets ordinance in Michigan. Michigan Complete Streets Coalition partner Karen Kafantaris of AARP rounded out the panel as [...]
June 11, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Strong Support for Complete Streets at Second Committe Hearing « Michigan Complete Streets Coalition
[...] testimony from Lansing City Councilwoman Jessica Yorko, who was a leader in the drive that passed Lansing’s complete street ordinance last year, and Andy Kilpatrick, who is a Transportation Engineer with the City of Lansing. Yorko [...]
October 1, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Lansing Adopts Snow/Ice Removal Ordinance « Michigan Complete Streets Coalition
[...] Snow/Ice | by League of Michigan Bicyclists Building off of Lansing’s recently adopted Complete Streets ordinance, the City adopted a snow and ice removal ordinance earlier this week. The ordinance is a natural [...]