Why CoMo Livable Streets?

In 2004, PedNet (now Local Motion) led Columbia to be one of the first cities in the U.S. to adopt a Complete Streets policy. But the policy hasn’t been updated and is now wildly outdated.

Our current “Complete Streets'' creates streets designed to pay lip service to people who walk, bike, and take public transit. Streets were and still are designed for cars, with the minimal infrastructure for other street users.

We chose the word livable streets because we wanted to throw out the status quo and instead create a vision of thriving neighborhoods, thriving businesses - streets where happy people can feel safe getting where they need to go without a car.

The Current State of Our Streets

Outdated

When Columbia passed its Complete Streets policy in 2004, it was one of the first U.S. cities to adopt this kind of revolutionary policy. But now it is wildly outdated, for Missouri and the country. Towns in Missouri, even those much smaller than Columbia, are surpassing us with more livable street design standards.

Inequitable

Columbia’s current transportation system was designed to serve the powerful—largely white, wealthy, temporarily able-bodied, middle-aged adults—at the expense of other groups, such as Black people, low-income families, children, older adults, and people with disabilities. The traffic fatality rate for Black people in Boone County is more than 2x that of white people. We all know examples of streets in Columbia that have been, time and again, put farther down the list of improvements for larger projects that cost more and don’t improve the accessibility or safety of our streets.

Residents off of Clark Lane have been working for 12 years to get a sidewalk along the entirety of the street. In 2019 a young woman was struck and killed by a car just trying to walk home from work along Clark Lane. Instead, projects like Discovery Parkway are prioritized, costing millions of dollars, serving no businesses or homes, only seeking to serve the needs of people driving cars.

Dangerous

There’s no other way to put it – our current street designs are just plain dangerous for people walking, biking, taking transit and driving. Every year in Columbia, approximately 65 people lose their lives or are seriously injured while traveling on City streets. People walking or biking are involved in less than 3% of crashes. But people walking or biking account for nearly 25% of traffic deaths.

Business Loop is a great example of paying lip service to “Complete Streets”. Yes, this street technically has a bike lane and a sidewalk. But would you feel safe or comfortable walking or biking on The Loop? The speed limit is 35 mph, with people often driving cars much faster. This street was not designed in a way that encourages families to spend an early evening enjoying local businesses along the Loop.

Inefficient

Most of us have lived in towns and cities where we are promised that more driving lanes will cut motor vehicle traffic time. This has been proven wrong time and again. How do we actually eliminate traffic? Adding infrastructure for people walking, biking, and taking public transportation. More people using these modes of transportation equals less cars – and traffic – on the streets!

Expensive

Financing street projects for people driving cars can get expensive to say the least. Adding even one lane to a street can cost millions of dollars, while projects to encourage walking, biking, and transit are often much less. And often we don’t count costs related to motor vehicle crashes: the lives of people involved, first responders, police, medical bills, etc.

This is a photo courtesy of Jackson Hotaling. Jackson took a bus to an appointment on the north side of town. When he hopped off the bus stop at Rangeline & Vandiver, he found himself on a high speed road with no barrier from traffic, and no bus shelter - not even a bench. To get to the closest crosswalk, he had to walk next to dangerous traffic without a sidewalk to use.

Take Action
We need a change. Let City Council know it's time for Columbia to have a livable streets policy — building a transportation system that will work for all of us.
I Want Liveable Streets!

Stay Connected

Join us at an upcoming event, volunteer, or sign up for updates.

Get Involved

CoMo Livable Streets is a campaign of Local Motion. Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.

Photo Credit: Jonathan Asher and Avery Abbott