Congratulations to Columbus, GA!

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Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 June 2018 16:02

Written by Admin

Good news for those who live, work and visit Columbus, GA — CCG Council just passed critical amendments to their Complete Streets Policy! These measures will greatly strengthen the policy, allowing for more transparency and accountability. The changes included:

1. Adopting specific engineering design guidelines for the application of bike, pedestrian, and transit facilities; including acknowledging the role that aesthetic design can have for encouraging safe and welcoming streets.
2. Creating a committee to publicly address and make transparent the process of how CCG/GDOT decide which roadways may be feasible for Complete Street implementation. This committee shall abide by objective, quantifiable, criterion when evaluating a corridor for the feasibility of a complete streets application.
3. Requiring the committee to provide status updates to the public on the state of complete streets project implementation and other metrics that are crucial to monitoring and allowing stakeholders to have the data and information available to them in order to help direct public discourse.

Click here to read the full text amendments.

A little bit of history...

In 2014, City Council passed Resolution 92-14, authorizing a Complete Streets policy based on the statewide policy issued by the Georgia Department of Transportation. This resolution made clear that Columbus would make an effort to be inclusive of all modes of transportation including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, persons with disabilities, and would encourage transportation projects to consider safety and mobility.

While this has been a step in the right direction and new projects are now being designed with other users in mind, more could be done on the policy side to ensure that these state and national objectives are being met in the long-term future. Georgia Bikes, local supporters and the office of the Mayor proposed that Columbus look to other cities that are leading the way in complete streets in order to strengthen the Columbus Complete Streets policy and continue to promote equitable transportation. The Planning Department then drafted these proposed amendments to strengthen the policy. 

A big thank you goes out to our supporters, including Bicycle Columbus, Voices for Healthy Kids, The National Complete Streets Coalition, American Heart Association, AARP GA and many more.

The next time you see a Columbus Council Member or Planning Department staff person, make sure to thank them for their support of safer streets for all road users!

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Interested in learning more about the process to write and adopt a Complete Streets Policy for your city or county? Contact Caila Brown, GA Bikes Complete Streets Program Manager, for assistance at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..