Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Bike/Ped Safety Advocates Applaud FDOT's Complete Streets Plan



FDOT issued a press release today about its Complete Streets Plan, highlighting support of the Plan by advocates, including BikeWalkLee.  For more information about the implementation plan, see BikeWalkLee's earlier blog.



BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ADVOCATES APPLAUD FDOT’S COMPLETE STREETS PLAN TO ENSURE
THE SAFETY OF ALL ROAD USERS

December 9, 2015                                                                   Dick Kane, (850) 414-4595                                                                                                    dick.kane@dot.state.fl.us
                                                                                                                                   
TALLAHASSEE – Bicycle and pedestrian safety advocates throughout the state have praised the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for the release of the agency’s Complete Streets Implementation Plan.

The implementation plan is FDOT’s new and innovative approach to designing roads. First it recognizes that there needs to be room and a safe place for different modes of transportation. And second, it guides road design according to the particular community and transportation purpose.

The implementation plan outlines how key standards, manuals, procedures, policies, guides, reports and other documents need to be changed to align with the new approach working in cooperation with state, regional and local officials, partners and communities.

FDOT Secretary Jim Boxold said, “The department’s Complete Streets Implementation Plan will fundamentally change our approach to street and highway design. Instead of the historic ‘one size fits all’ approach to designing our corridors, we will be designing streets in downtowns very differently from those in the suburbs or rural locations. The result will be improved safety for all users and improved comfort for pedestrians and bicyclists.”

FDOT District Secretary Billy Hattaway said, “As an avid cyclist, I recognize improving safety for pedestrians and bicyclists is a major goal of our Complete Streets Implementation Plan. Safety will be improved for all users and comfort for pedestrians and bicyclists will increase as well. In addition, our increased priority on developing Complete Streets supports redevelopment of downtowns and communities throughout the state.”

Darla Letourneau, BikeWalkLee, said, “Kudos to the FDOT team, led by Billy Hattaway and assisted by Smart Growth America, for developing this exciting plan and for committing to its implementation over the next two years.”

Becky Afonso, Executive Director, Florida Bicycle Association (FBA) said,  “FBA commends the Florida Department of Transportation and Smart Growth America for developing the Complete Streets Implementation Plan and committing it to a two-year realization.  The framework to engage agency collaboration and update the Florida Green Book will give the state and local planners the opportunity to work in unison for Complete Street policies."

Victor Dover, Principle, Dover, Kohl & Partners said, “The implementation plan zeroes in on ten little-known, powerful documents that control the daily decisions made by our state’s engineers, and prescribes precisely how those documents—and the outcomes they direct—need to be changed, now. This will be a ‘software update’ of monumental importance; countless little details that worked against good streets in the past will at last be changed. It’s the technical reflection of a profound attitude adjustment, swapping the obsolete wider-and-faster-is-better mentality for a more sensible, more humane, smarter way of looking at street design. It’s long overdue, but welcome.”

For additional details on FDOT’s Complete Streets Implementation Plan, please go to www.dot.state.fl.us/rddesign/CSI/Default.shtm.

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