Complete Streets: Time to Get Involved!

City of Beverly Hills is midway through a multi-year planning process called ‘complete streets.’ The goal is to make travel safe and efficient for road users regardless of chosen travel mode. The outcome of this process is a mobility plan that will take our 20th-century auto-dominated community into the 21st century.

‘Complete streets’ is not controversial. State law since 2008 has encouraged localities like Beverly Hills to ensure that key streets include facilities that make traveling safe for people walking and riding a bicycle.

Today the term ‘complete streets’ is used as a handle for a coordinated effort to design and build streets that prioritize user safety and equity-in-access regardless of the traveler’s chosen mode of travel.

Beverly Hills may be a walkable city and it’s convenient to drive and park, but we can’t call our streets ‘complete’ because those who want to ride a bike, use a scooter or take the bus will know the city has failed to accommodate our needs.

However since 2010 our own city plans have recommended that we travel by foot, bike and transit when possible to reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. Our city council even made complete streets a policy priority back in 2017!

Yet our planning has lagged behind those good intentions. It is essential that we make our streets ‘complete’ if we want to encourage travelers to leave the car behind especially for short trips.

Today we are two years into a complete streets planning process that kicked-off with three transportation consultants and a $200,000 budget in 2017. There have been five community events and numerous Traffic & Parking Commission discussions. Throughout the public has overwhelmingly supported complete streets. The city’s draft complete streets plan is a reflection of the public’s interest in streets made ‘complete’ for all travelers.

It is time for YOU to get involved if you care about streets that are safe for walking, riding and driving in Beverly Hills. Please continue on to our complete streets project page to learn more about the process and how you can make a difference.

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