On September 13, 2011, Lansing Township passed a Complete Streets ordinance in order to promote the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, and general welfare for walking, bicycling, and public transportation and to encourage increased use of these modes of transportation as part of daily activities, while at the same time securing adequate traffic circulation to the roadways, streets and highways to achieve the maximum utility and livability on individual parcels. Lansing Township became the ninth community in Michigan to adopt a Complete Streets ordinance, but the first township to do so in the state.
Because townships do not own their roadways and must work with and through county road commissions and the Michigan Department of Transportation to implement roadway projects, the ordinance is unique.
The Township committed to approaching every transportation project and program as an opportunity to collaboratively implement Complete Street practices and infrastructure in order to improve public and private streets and the transportation network for all users. It also recognizes public investments by prioritizing Complete Streets projects that are located near public service areas (e.g., schools, government facilities, libraries, public health facilities, parks, hospitals, etc.) and that provide improved access to healthy food (e.g., farmers markets, full service groceries, community gardens, etc.). The Township recognizes that not all modes of travel are appropriate on all streets and therefore outlines specific exceptions. The Township also has a detailed plan for collecting data and measuring the impact of their Complete Streets ordinance and projects.
This ordinance comes after a year-long process of exploring the benefits of Complete Streets and approaches to implementation with partners such as the Ingham County Health Department and Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. Lansing Township is also currently developing its non-motorized transportation plan which will help to implement the Complete Streets ordinance.
Leave a comment
Comments feed for this article