Legislation

Family on a bike rideOverview:
Safe roads are important for everyone. Passage of Complete Streets legislation will ensure that our roads are designed to be safe and accessible for drivers, pedestrians, transit riders, and bicyclists—all users of Minnesota’s roads, regardless of age or ability. The legislation will help remove transportation barriers for seniors, children, and people with disabilities while giving people more choices in how they get around. It will also support more walking and bicycling, healthy and clean transportation choices that help protect Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, streams, and air quality.

Problem:
Many Minnesotans do not feel safe walking or biking in their neighborhoods or letting their kids walk to school. Too often, Minnesota roads are built primarily for driving as quickly as possible, and the needs of children, seniors, and others are not seriously considered. This can result in roads that simply aren’t safe for pedestrians, people with disabilities, bicyclists, transit riders, and drivers themselves. It can also result in roads that hurt the economic vitality of main streets and harm the quality of life that draws people to Minnesota.

Everyone is affected by unsafe roads that lead to more injuries and fatalities, very real barriers in our transportation system, and disincentives for walking, bicycling, and transit use.

Position:
Complete Streets legislation will help us update the way we design our roads so that they are safer and meet the quality of life needs of all Minnesotans. The legislation ensures a flexible road design process that considers the needs of all users throughout all stages of transportation planning and engineering. A specific safe road design will depend on community context, topography, and the likely users of the road.

Working with the Minnesota Department of Transportation we can update current design guidelines, requirements, and processes to ensure that they provide the flexibility needed to create safer roads for all Minnesotans. It will not require retrofits to existing roads, but will ensure that as we construct, reconstruct, and rehab roads, we consider the full range of needs. The legislation will also provide local governments with relief from current design mandates that can lead to roads that cost more, are less safe, and do not serve the community. In total, Complete Streets will support safer roads, healthy lifestyles and clean transportation choices that help protect Minnesota's rivers, lakes, and air quality.

KEY COMMITTEES:

House:

  • Transportation and Transit Policy and Oversight Division
  • Transportation Finance and Policy Division
  • State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Local Government Division

Senate:

  • Transportation
  • State and Local Government Operations and Oversight

BILL AUTHORS:

  • Rep. Michael Obermueller
  • Sen. Tony Lourey

Information and status of the House bill: House File 2801

Information and status of the Senate bill: Senate File 2461

Click here to download a PDF fact sheet on Making Roads Safer for All Minnesotans.

To learn more about this issue and a broad statewide coalition supporting Complete Streets legislation go to http://www.mncompletestreets.org 

To read more about all of MEP’s priority issues for the 2010 legislative session, click here to download a PDF of the 2010 MEP Legislative Priorities Briefing Packet.

For more information on this issue, contact:

Ethan Fawley
Fresh Energy
651-294-7141
fawley@fresh-energy.org

John Tuma
Patience Caso
Minnesota Environmental Partnership
651-290-0154
johntuma@MEPartnership.org
patiencecaso@MEPartnership.org