Now is the time for complete streets in the Inland Empire

(4/9/13) – IE Transit Talking Points Short

The Transit Coalition supports the development of complete streets, which in addition to the main roadway, includes concrete sidewalks, bicycle lanes or a paralleling cycleway, wide shoulders for potential street parking, and marked crossings through developed areas. For rural areas, a single multi-use bridle path located adjacent to the major roadways can complete the street. Such streets and roadways provide safe and efficient transportation choices to move people.

We believe the streets of Southern California ought to be designed to support a variety of transportation options, not just automobile travel. Streets that are designed to accommodate solely automobile traffic often cause inconveniences or even safety issues for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and equestrians.

This is possibly the case in regards to a March, 2013 pedestrian injury in Temecula. Two pedestrians were struck by a car along a segment of a major road without sidewalks which links a city library into the western part of town. Pauba Road in some parts is complete with the exception of its western segment where the injury took place. Pauba Road also has portions in the east where only the southern half of the road is complete. A local resident, Mike Baxter is petitioning to get the western segment of Pauba into a complete street which is long past due. To be fair, the city has been proactive in ensuring its streets are complete, but sidewalks feeding to/from the city library without exception need to be finished promptly on both sides of the road. Now is the time.

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