Troy on 'Best Complete Streets' list

An aerial view of riverside Troy.

(From the TROYnyTOPICS blog.)

Here's some good news about the efforts of a coalition of organizations in the City.

The City's "Complete Streets Ordinance" adopted last June, has been ranked No. 2 in included in "The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2014," released today by the National Complete Streets Coalition.

The policy, says a City press release, "directs transportation planners and engineers to design and build streets that provide everyone, regardless of age, ability, income, or ethnicity, and no matter how they travel, with safe, convenient & accessible access to community destinations."

Troy finished behind only Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County. The rest of the top included four Massachusetts communities -- Salem, Acton, Middleton and Stoughton -- plus Austin and Dawson County, TX;  Lakemoor, IL, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The National Complete Streets Coalition says it reviewed every policy passed in the United States in 2014 and scored each according to the 10 elements of what it regards as an ideal policy.The coalition is described as a program of Smart Growth America, a non-profit, non-partisan alliance of public interest organizations and transportation professionals committed to the development and implementation of Complete Streets. It defines "Complete Streets" as the integration of people and place in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of transportation networks.

Troy's success is a product of the Transport Troy Complete Streets Citizen’s Working Group, led by Capital Roots (formerly Capital District Community Gardens), Troy Bike Rescue, Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley, Transition Troy, Troy Architectural Program (TAP) and the City government.

“We fully anticipate the growth that we have seen over the last few years to continue,” said Mayor Lou Rosamilia. “Therefore, it is important that we plan accordingly and take into account everyone’s collective needs when making decisions about our future.”

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