The City of Independence is joining other cities in the region in making streets more usable for all residents. The City Council at its June 6 meeting adopted a resolution introduced by the Public Works Department establishing a “complete streets” policy for the city. The complete streets initiative was introduced in the greater Kansas City region last fall by the Mid-America Regional Council.
Public Works Director John Powell said the complete streets policy sets forth principles and practices in transportation projects to encourage inclusion of all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, cars, trucks, motorcycles, and buses. Although the City of Independence had been following these guidelines on transportation projects, an official policy had not been established to ensure this remained a guiding principle in the future.
The Independence Health Department, which is working with the Public Works and Parks and Recreation Departments, is leading the effort on the Building a Healthier Independence project.
“When implementing a complete streets policy, the term “streets” is defined as every aspect of a transportation corridor, including sidewalks, streets, and bike lanes,” Powell explained.
“A complete streets policy, with its attention to pedestrians and bicyclists, is also considered an important commitment to building a healthier overall community,” Health Director Larry Jones said. “The trails included in street projects, such as those along the new Little Blue Parkway, provide residents safe venues for walking and riding their bicycles. For that reason, the complete streets policy supports the Health Department in its ‘Building a Healthier Independence’ project.”
Jones said the Building a Healthier Independence project provides opportunities for the City to focus on increasing safety at parks, trails, and streets, increase physical activity, increase healthy food choices, and increase advertising to promote smoking cessation.
“We would like to publicly recognize the timely and efficient manner that the Public Works Department utilized to produce the Complete Streets Policy,” Jones said.
When voting to approve the policy at the June 6 Council meeting, Council Member Jim Schultz stated the Complete Streets policy was a “very important policy change for us” and that it would lead to a “healthier and safer community.”
Mayor Don Reimal agreed and stated that the Complete Streets policy is an “exceptionally good program.” The City Council unanimously passed the resolution.
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