Federal Highway Administration report: Moving to a Complete Streets Design Model

(FHWA) The House Report accompanying the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2021, encouraged the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to adopt a Complete Streets design model and to evaluate its current activities related to that goal.

The FHWA shares the Committee’s concern about recent increases in roadway fatalities, including those among cyclists and pedestrians, and the Department recently launched the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) to address these issues. We agree that the adoption of a Complete Streets design model can help make streets safer for all users, and this is one of the strategies outlined in the NRSS. This report provides an overview of current highway safety trends and then provides a summary of FHWA activities that support improved agency and practitioner understanding and routine implementation of projects that prioritize the safety of all users.

The FHWA’s Complete Streets efforts focus not just on policy but on outcomes, including increasing the proportion of federal-aid funded transportation projects that are routinely planned, designed, built, and operated as Complete Streets that are safe and accessible for all users. To read the full report, click here.