Complete Streets Webinar Launches CalBike Campaign
On March 6, 2024, from 9:00 am to 10:30 am, CalBike will host a panel discussion on Zoom: Complete Streets on Caltrans Corridors. The webinar, an advance session for April’s California Bicycle Summit, is free, but advance registration is required.
State Senator Scott Wiener will join the conversation, along with Jeanie Ward-Waller (Fearless Advocacy), Kendra Ramsey (CalBike), Laura Tolkoff (SPUR), and Sandhya Laddha (Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition). The discussion will center on Wiener’s 2024 Complete Streets Bill, SB 960, and the campaign to make Caltrans-controlled roads safer for people biking, walking, and taking public transit.
Why Caltrans Complete Streets matter
Complete Streets is the term for streets that meet the needs of people using all modes of transportation, not just those driving in cars. Too many of our roadways were designed with moving vehicles quickly as the only consideration, making them unfriendly and dangerous for people walking and biking.
To turn a street into a Complete Street, upgrades need to include more than a crosswalk here or some green paint there: a Complete Street is one that includes all the elements required to allow people who aren’t inside cars to travel safely and comfortably along the corridor. That could include bus boarding islands, protected bikeways, bulb-outs to reduce crossing distances, protected intersections, traffic calming measures like chicanes or speed humps, and more. In addition, Complete Streets are inviting to people of all ages, abilities, and races.
Local governments across California have adopted Complete Streets policies and begun creating corridors that invite people to get out of their cars and use active transportation. But state routes that serve as local thoroughfares through many cities have remained an obstacle to local progress.
Caltrans-controlled roads are often among the most dangerous in an area — high-injury corridors with fast-moving traffic. The agency has been reluctant to devote resources to redesigning these routes, despite local desires for safer streets and the agency’s own Complete Streets policies.
Senator Wiener’s Complete Streets Bill will require Caltrans to consider the needs of all users when it repaves a section of roadway. It will also bring much-needed transparency to an agency whose operations are in desperate need of some sunshine.
CalBike’s allies in the Complete Streets Campaign
The Complete Streets Bill is CalBike’s top legislative priority in 2024. We have retained Jeanie Ward-Waller, a powerful advocate with experience in and out of Caltrans, to help pass this critical measure.
Many other organizations have committed to help win Caltrans Complete Streets, including bill co-sponsors SPUR and Streets For All. Our allies include environmental and social justice organizations that recognize the central role of safe streets in achieving climate and transportation justice. And we have many local partners, including the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, which is waging its own campaign to add safe bikeways as Caltrans repaves El Camino Real (State Route 82).
We need your help to win passage of the Complete Streets Bill. A strong movement in support of safe passage for all Californians will help sway legislators and the governor. We hope you can join us on March 6 to jumpstart the Complete Streets Campaign.
