Seminars explore methods to better utilize roadways

Earlier this week, I reported on the state’s draft pedestrian master plan. It turned out to be a pretty timely piece.

Next week, Honolulu safety advocates will be getting a treat: Dan Burden, a nationally recognized authority on pedestrian programs, will be in town to impart some wisdom in getting a “Complete Streets” law passed for the island.

Time magazine once named Burden as one of the six important civic innovators in the world. That’s quite an honor to bestow on someone I found to be an amiable, down-to-earth fellow. But I guess you’d have to be if you’re going to promote a civic vision that encourages neighborhoods to welcome all modes of transportation.

“If we now start working on options that don’t require parking, that give people exercise and other benefits, we end up with not only healthier people, but a healthier economy,” Burden says.

Two years ago, state lawmakers passed Act 54, which enabled Hawaii to adopt a Complete Streets policy for transportation improvements but didn’t require counties to join in.

In 2006, voters passed a City Charter amendment that the city “should” prioritize a Complete Streets philosophy but didn’t require the city to follow the policy, says Jackie Boland, AARP Hawaii’s associate state director for community outreach.

The Complete Streets website (www.completestreets.org) says its policy “ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind — including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.”

I suspect there’s some fear that requiring the policy be used would somehow cost more. But Burden says that’s historically not the case.

“We know from 20 years of experience now that it doesn’t bankrupt an agency, and all it does is help the agency focus on where to best make expenditures of money,” he says.

Some states, like Michigan, decided not to impose the policy but offered large financial incentives to counties that did so.

Hawaii is in a unique position for a successful policy because of its great walking weather, a dense urban core and a culture that has always encouraged foot traffic, he says.

For more on Burden, visit the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute’s website at walklive.org.

The planning sessions for Complete Streets is scheduled at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Harris United Methodist Church, 20 S. Vineyard Blvd. (A session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday is already full.) Visit hicompletestreets.eventbrite.com.

These sessions will be for those who want to help organize and implement a campaign to get a Complete Streets county law passed.