Complete Streets

Definition

The Complete Streets Policy, adopted by the City Council in 2015, aims to make Omaha's streets work for all users.

So when a transportation project is designed, it will consider all modes of transportation on each street. In practice, this means that a street's "context" is considered; Is this project on a designated motorist arterial street? On a designated bicycle corridor? On a street with storefronts that expect pedestrian traffic? At a main transit stop? The context will influence which transportation modes get attention on the project.

For the policy's complete text, see pages 76-78 of Omaha's Transportation Element.

Page 76 of Omaha's Transportation Element

Status:

Having a Complete Streets policy is a first step, but the policy will not be consistently applied until it is incorporated into the City's design manuals. By nature, this is a slow process, but it seems to be happening, and there are cases when the Complete Streets model was applied even though the design manual was not updated.

Even so, it appears to Mode Shift that progress on incorporating Complete Streets policy into the City manuals depends on the goodwill and determination of a few individuals, rather than an effort promoted and driven by City leaders. It's been 3 years since the policy was adopted, and there is no schedule for implementing the policy.

Action

  • A schedule for completing the incorporation of Complete Streets into Omaha's design manuals.
  • A tracking of the "Performance Measures" stipulated in the Complete Streets policy (see text to the right). These should have been delivered a year ago, and there is nothing stopping the City from publishing this information as part of the yearly CIP document.
  • A flag to indicate which CIP projects included some Complete Streets action. We understand that some projects qualify for such a flag and think that the City deserves recognition for it.

These "performance measures" are a year overdue (page 76 & 77 of the Transportation Element)