“The Coalition has had spectacular success as an ad-hoc group for seven years,” said Barbara McCann, who founded the Coalition. “Now it needs a more formal and sustainable structure to better serve the growth of Complete Streets.”

Concurrent with the Coalition’s move to SGA, which has served as its fiscal host since 2006, McCann will resign from her position as executive director. She plans to write a book about the Complete Streets movement, which has helped hundreds of jurisdictions commit to routinely building safer, more inclusive roads.

“Barbara has done a great job engaging so many organizations in the pursuit of Complete Streets and we know she will continue to provide value to the movement,” said SGA President and CEO Geoffrey Anderson. “Complete Streets are a vital component of strong, vibrant neighborhoods and adding the Coalition as an SGA program aligns with our goal of making communities work for everyone. This is something that goes beyond safety and access and speaks to the need to develop towns and cities in ways that improve quality of life, enhance economic futures and create great places to live and work.”

Roger Millar, SGA vice president and director of SGA’s Leadership Institute, will head the Coalition, and long-time Coalition State and Local Policy Manager Stefanie Seskin will be promoted to deputy director. The Coalition’s Steering Committee groups will continue to fund a significant portion of the staff’s work, as well as using their own resources to work for adoption and implementation of Complete Streets policies at the local, state, and federal level.

“We expect this evolution to strengthen the Coalition,” said Coalition Chair Rich Weaver, who serves as the Director of Planning, Policy and Sustainability at the American Public Transportation Association. “It has already energized Steering Committee members to step up and renew their commitment to supporting the spread of polices that make the streets safe for everyone.”

Download the news release (.pdf).

Eighty-three percent of those polled would like to see federal funding for bicycling and walking maintained or increased — and this high percentage is consistent across demographics and political affiliation. (Check out the infographic below!)

These findings are consistent with many previous polls, both state and local, that have found that people want a more balanced transportation investment system at all levels. A poll administered late last year in Dallas found that 85 percent of respondents were willing to give up at least a small portion of street space now devoted to cars to make room for other travel options.

When given a dollar to divide according to the portion that should go to different modes, Americans responding to surveys consistently give more than just a cent or two to non-motorized options — which is the current allocation of federal funds.

Such a poll in Minnesota found that the state’s residents would, on average, allocate 20 percent for bicycling and walking, 25 percent to public transportation, and 55 percent to roadspace for cars. That 2008 poll helped drive the state to adopt its Complete Streets policy, which is now being implemented across the state — and the Minnesota Department of Transportation is discovering that improving the streets for all users is a win-win. According to Scott Bradley of Mn/DOT, “Implementation of Complete Streets goals can actually keep costs at acceptable levels and save money, while adding more public benefits and return on investment.”

Ordinary Americans understand that streets need to work for everyone using them, and that means making appropriate investments. With luck, more states will listen to their citizens, as Minnesota did, and understand the benefits of creating streets for everyone.

The report highlights how the Coalition has helped to lead the movement and respond to its changing needs in 2011, celebrating the many milestones the year brought: at least 125 new policies on the books; attention from national media outlets such as NPR; the growth of the Coalition’s membership and Partners program; and its efforts to provide targeted assistance for communities large and small.

The crash site, where Powell Calhoun and Donna Williams traveled on Friday, March 30. (16 WAPT News)

The next time someone refers to a sidewalk as a too-expensive “amenity,” think about Powell Calhoun and Donna Williams.

They were hit by a car as they walked and rolled along a frontage road in Jackson, Mississippi two weeks ago. Ms. Williams uses a wheelchair and Mr. Calhoun helped push her around the streets of Jackson. He died at the scene; she died a few days later of her injuries. The deaths were all the more painful because three years ago, another man using a wheelchair was killed as he traveled in the breakdown lane of another Jackson road without an accessible sidewalk.

Dr. Scott Crawford, a longtime supporter of Complete Streets and a member of Jackson’s ADA advisory council, was friends with Ms. Williams. He blames a failure to build Complete Streets for the deaths.

“Many may wonder: ‘Why were they in the street with a wheelchair?’ ” says Crawford. “The answer is simple. Our society hasn’t yet decided to build and maintain roadways that are safe for ALL its users, including vulnerable ones like bicyclists and pedestrians, and especially those with disabilities.”

Donna Williams, exiting a bus. (Photo: Dr. Scott Crawford)

Dr. Crawford says Williams had spoken to ADA Council members about the need for ADA compliance, and the fact that when she encountered a road without a sidewalk, she didn’t have the option of walking in the grass.

The man driving the car that has not yet been charged, and police made a sympathetic comment that the couple may have been in his ‘blind spot’ – an attitude that recalls the case of Raquel Nelson in Georgia.

From our perspective, even more glaring is the fact that the public right of way had no safe place for Calhoun and Williams to travel. I’d guess that right now hundreds of people who use wheelchairs are out in the street across the United States, because there is no sidewalk, or an obstructed sidewalk, or no accessible curb ramp between their home and their destination.

At this point in my blog post, I could quote statistics about pedestrian deaths from Dangerous by Design. But right now, I’m not thinking about statistics. I’m thinking about Powell Calhoun and his wife, Donna Williams, and their friends and families.

Let’s build Complete Streets for them.