Complete Streets becomes law in New York State

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York signed Complete Streets legislation in August. The law, which will take effect in mid-February 2012, requires that all major transportation projects undertaken by the state Department of Transportation or funded and overseen by that agency take all users into consideration, including those who are walking, bicycling, or driving. The bill passed unanimously in both houses of legislature.

Streetsblog.org gave some of the credit for the bill’s passage to Sandi Vega, a Wantagh, Long Island, resident who became a strong advocate after her 14-year-old daughter Brittany was killed by a car while crossing Sunrise Highway, a six-lane road with no safety island or countdown clock. From 2000 to 2009, a total of 3,485 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the New York metropolitan area, according to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.