Des Moines mayor: Suburbs should adopt 'complete streets'

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie wants other metro area cities to get on board with "complete streets," the idea of building roads to accommodate bikes, pedestrians and public transit in addition to vehicles.

During a walkability summit Wednesday night, Cownie issued a challenge to the mayors of other area cities to adopt complete-streets policies by the end of 2015.

"It's going to be a hard discussion, but I think there are a number of mayors that are willing to do it," he said in an interview Thursday.

Cownie also said the city is working with the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the agency that distributes transportation funding throughout the metro, to develop a template policy for other cities to consider. Currently, there is no standard policy in the metro area.

Des Moines' complete-streets policy, adopted in 2008, requires that space for pedestrians and bikes be included whenever the city builds or reconstructs a road. It includes exemptions for roads where pedestrians are prohibited, projects in which adding pedestrian and bike infrastructure would account for more than 20 percent of the project costs, and roads with little future pedestrian and bike use, like cul-de-sacs.

Carlisle and Norwalk have also adopted complete-streets policies.

The effects of Des Moines' policy can been seen on streets like Ingersoll Avenue, which was reduced from four lanes to two with a center turn lane and bike lanes.

The walkability summit featured Jeff Speck, an urban designer and author of "Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America One Step at a Time," and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, whose city is working on a $176 million project to make its downtown more pedestrian-friendly.

To make downtown more walkable, Speck said Des Moines should convert one-way streets to two-way, reduce the number of travel lanes, allow more on-street parking and add more bike lanes.

In an interview Thursday, Speck said urban planners are wary of complete-streets policies and favor a more holistic approach to accommodating pedestrians and cyclists.

"We wholeheartedly embrace complete streets, but we don't want people to think that adding a bike lane to a street that's otherwise a highway is going to make it a safe, walkable street," he said. "There are a hundred things that add up to a street truly feeling safe."