June 1st, 2011
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Author: MOBILE, Alabama — The Mobile City Council on Tuesday approved a policy that will require officials to consider pedestrians, cyclists and public-transit users, not just automobile drivers, when designing new or rebuilt streets.
It’s the sixth city on the Alabama Gulf Coast to approve such a document, known in planning circles as a Complete Streets policy, said Charlene Lee, programming director for Smart Coast, a Fairhope-based advocacy group that pushes for better urban design and livable communities.
Fairhope, Daphne Chickasaw, Mount Vernon and Orange Beach already have similar policies, she said.
The policy’s passage comes on the heels of a study that found Mobile County to be the worst in the state in terms of pedestrian safety. It logged 138 pedestrian deaths between 2000 and 2010.
Duncan Scott, a doctor who sits on the board of the Medical Society of Mobile County, called the lack of proper access for pedestrians and cyclists “a public health crisis” in Mobile.
“People in Mobile County and statewide are being injured or even killed for trying to walk or ride their bikes in the community,” he said.
Scott said that the lack of infrastructure also contributes to the sedentary lifestyle associated with a litany of health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure and heart disease.
Alabama is one of only nine states whose obesity rate runs higher than 30 percent, Scott said.
Citing the area’s grim statistics, the Medical Society has been working with Smart Coast to push more inclusive road designs.
Scott said the passage of the Complete Streets policy shows that they are gaining ground.
The Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization, for example, recently held a series of meetings to get public input on a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian plan for the county.
Local policy lacks teeth
On a national level, the Federal Highway Administration already requires local road projects using federal money to include facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians or demonstrate why they are not needed. Without such consideration, projects will no longer be eligible for federal dollars.
The local Complete Streets policy, however, lacks such teeth.
The National Complete Streets Coalition, which codifies best practices when it comes to such policies, recommends taking a stance similar to the Highway Administration, where Complete Streets are the rule unless a project is granted a specific exemption. Such exemptions should be documented and made part of the record, according to the organization.
Mobile’s policy does not include any such provisions.
“It’s a values statement,” Lee said. “You are saying that all residents should be able to safely use public streets.”
Now that Mobile officials have adopted the policy, residents and advocacy groups can hold them to it, she said.
Niklas Hallberg, a member of Mobilians on Bikes, said the policy was “a nice first step and a good gesture, but I look forward to seeing some action on it.
“This isn’t just happening here,” he said. “It’s a national movement of people who want to make their neighborhoods more livable.”
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