KINGSTON- South Kingstown residents regularly cite our town's walkable nature as a pinnacle of its appeal. Particularly given the green revolution now sweeping through the country, the benefits of more pedestrian oriented roadways are becoming ever more apparent. At the University of Rhode Island's Memorial Union, the national movement Complete Streets held its South Kingstown Community Meeting in aspirations of generating further awareness, discussion, and implementation of principles designed to make roadways as safe for bicyclists and pedestrians as they are cars.

The organization does not petition for funding for particular projects, but rather advocates for the inclusion of safe and sustainable principles in the routine redesign and improvement of roadways.

The meeting was overseen by a panel composed of Abel Collins, Program Manager for the Rhode Island Chapter of the Sierra Club, South Kingstown Planning Director Vin Murray, Deputy Chief Engineer for The Rhode Island Department of Transportation Bob Smith, and AARP Support Specialist Deanna Casey. Also represented at the meeting were the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Safe Routes to Schools, the URI Cycling Club, and the University itself. The event was attended by many members of the community, including State Representative Elect Teresa Tanzi and Senator Susan Sosnowski.

RIDOT Deputy Chief Engineer Bob Smith opened his statement at the meeting by outlining, "the concept of Complete Streets is a new name for basically focusing on pedestrians and bicycles and making sure we don't forget about all the users of the system."

During her presentation, AARP Support Specialist Deanna Casey put forth the principles of Complete Streets. She pointed out that incomplete streets pose dangers to members of the community "when crossings are too long, sidewalks are missing or in disrepair, bike lanes are nonexistent, and bus stops are not friendly."

A complete street would not only rectify these concerns by ensuring adequate and considerate provisions within the infrastructure itself, but would additionally benefit the environment by encouraging walking, biking, and the use of public transportation. Furthermore, a complete street accounts for improved Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs), provides street tree canopy cover, and fosters community by encouraging physical activity and providing a more spacious, safe, and environmentally friendly public venue.

In doing so, a complete street "helps revitalize the 'Main Street' business district by making [the businesses] more attractive and accessible to visitors," Casey explained.

This change is not something that the town can perform autonomously either, as South Kingstown Planning Director Vin Murray offered in his address.

"I think a lot of residents erroneously maintain that Main Street, for instance is a town road. It is not. High Street is not a town road either," Murray offered. He further explained, "there are quite a bit of roads in the town where we would need to work with the State to effect changes."

Among these changes, Murray prioritizes Low Impact Development principles and a stronger consideration of aesthetics. Murray corroborated his support for the movement by announcing that next Tuesday the planning board is going to be offering a special resolution for consideration by the Town Council advocating Complete Streets as a community philosophy.

Liz Marsis, Policy Assistant for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, described how the Audubon Society has performed work to the same end as Complete Streets with the Safe Routes to School Movement. She explained that schools are not designed to accommodate traffic generated by parents dropping children off at school.

"Pressures have lead to people dropping their children off when they live within walking distance. This creates a traffic problem and is an area of concern," Marsis said.

Many of these concerns are already being addressed. A few local schools have been selected for improvement projects, including Narragansett Pier Middle School, and other schools in both Jamestown and Westerly.

In South Kingstown, the William C. O'Neill Bike Path Extension, as well as a recently slated Route 138 improvement project, both align with the Complete Streets movement.

Deputy Chief Engineer Smith highlighted the Route 138 improvement project as stretching from the intersection of Routes 108 and 138 west to Route 2, and improving and extending sidewalks, improving the road shoulder, installing traffic rotaries, and allowing for a safer passage between URI's Main Campus and its Graduate Village. The project also hopes to connect the Graduate Village with the O'Neill Bike Path. The project is currently in the environmental permitting phase.

Sierra Club Program Manager Abel Collins praised South Kingstown's readiness to accept Complete Streets Principles. "In some places you would have to fight for this. Here, that has not been the case."

Complete Streets hopes to garner community support for its principles. They are seeking members of the community to act helping to organize efforts in South Kingstown. The Audubon Society is advocating for the public to survey areas in their neighborhoods for inadequacies in the roadways and areas of concern by walking routes in a group, taking photographs, and recording observations. Of particular interest to the Audubon Society are the areas around our schools.

Collins offers the following insight as to how residents can immediately begin to enact change. "There's a whole infrastructure side to Complete Streets…but at least half of the problem is our behavior when we're on the road, and that requires a whole other effort. That's where the public can be so important."

Members of the community interested in the Complete Streets movement can contact Abel Collins at abel.collins@sierraclub.org.