November 30, 2022.
Cincinnati, OH.
City Council has voted unanimously to adopt a “Complete Streets” ordinance, thereby ensuring that future transportation planning will prioritize safe streets and sustainable design.
Complete Streets are designed to be used safely and conveniently by everyone, regardless of age, ability or economic capacity. By increasing the capacity of our city streets to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, users of mobility devices and transit riders, we can decrease the proportion of single-passenger automobiles on the road. In turn, we can reduce harmful emissions that contribute to both acute, local air pollution and global climate change.
In addition to a focus on safety and air quality benefits, the Complete Streets approach also provides opportunities to address stormwater planning and other road-adjacent challenges common to the urban environment.
The Cincinnati ordinance, which was introduced by Councilmember Mark Jeffreys, establishes that all transportation projects, including activities such as road repaving, should be designed to incorporate Complete Streets principles to the greatest extent possible, contingent on geographic and other constraints. Importantly, the policy is centered around a robust public participation process, through which neighborhoods and communities can best meet their unique transportation needs.
The Complete Streets approach supports other transportation initiatives such as Vision Zero, which is geared towards eliminating pedestrian fatalities. By embracing a more grassroots approach to transportation planning, as opposed to the historic top-down approach often employed by state and local officials, Complete Streets also seeks to enhance and promote transportation equity, and to undo some of the harms caused by highway planning and other tools of redlining.
Advocates in Cincinnati have been working for years to install a Complete Streets policy at City Hall, and in 2018, the Green Cincinnati Plan provided a formal recommendation for Council to act. Thanks in part to the Sierra Club, Tri-State Trails and other organizations who worked with Councilmember Jeffreys and other members of Council and the city administration, the efforts culminated in a 2022 ordinance that has enjoyed wide support among advocates, the public and officials within the Department of Transportation and Engineering.
Thank you and congratulations to everyone who helped effect this important evolution in city planning! We look forward to sharing this example of success with other Sierra Club members and local governments in Ohio, as we work together to make our world safer and more sustainable.