Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto issued an executive order Friday requiring the city to develop a “complete streets policy” that will affect the design, construction and maintenance of city streets, sidewalks and other public infrastructure.
The order comes about a month after the mayor announced about $32 million in work over the next five years on traffic signals, streets and sidewalks, bike lanes and other upgrades Downtown, all aimed at making public spaces more accessible for pedestrians, bicyclists and public transportation.
“Investing in smart, multimodal transportation infrastructure is among the greatest needs facing Pittsburgh and will not only support economic growth, but the health and safety of everyone in the city,” the mayor said in a news release. “Through complete streets policies and programs we will commit to the quality design and maintenance of rights of way and further mark Pittsburgh as a leader in 21st century planning.”
The order, which charges planning director Ray Gastil with developing the policy, says the complete streets model has “been proven to increase public health and safety, spur new economic growth, enhance quality of life, reduce traffic congestion and traffic-related injuries and fatalities, and fill transportation gaps and improve connections between neighborhoods and people.”
The policy could include changes to city code, the formation of a Complete Streets Advisory Group, a review of existing design guidance and criteria, and recommendations for necessary changes and a strategy for integrating a complete streets approach in major transit investments, the mayor’s office said.
At last month’s news conference, officials pointed to complete streets projects in New York City that included turning traffic islands into green plazas, wider crosswalks, bump-outs to calm and slow traffic, 400 miles of protected bike lanes and 60 plazas that had once been roads, including Times Square.
First Published: April 10, 2015, 2:11 p.m.
Updated: April 11, 2015, 4:04 a.m.
