Held on October 22, 2021, the 6th biennial New Jersey Complete Streets Summit welcomed over 340 engineers, planners, health professionals, advocates, youth organizers, elected officials, and many more. The Summit, sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), celebrated 10+ years of Complete Streets in New Jersey and provided a wealth of information in sessions centering on adopting a Complete Streets policy, lessons learned from implementation, and what is in store for the Complete Streets movement over the coming years.

Each of the Summit sessions incorporated a short video narrating the story of Complete Streets in New Jersey as representatives from NJDOT and other governments/organizations talked about what Complete Streets mean, how its definition has evolved over time, and how it continues to help develop safe and accessible multimodal environments that are also healthy, prosperous, and resilient.

The NJDOT and New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center (BPRC) at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University were also proud to announce the 2021 New Jersey Complete Streets and Safe Routes to School Champions at the Summit. These awards recognized individuals and groups who have gone above and beyond in their efforts to promote safe, accessible, and equitable mobility in the State.

2021 NEW JERSEY COMPLETE STREET CHAMPIONS

  • Late Highland Park Councilwoman, Susan Welkovits for setting a shining example as a community advocate on bicycle and pedestrian issues and Complete Streets in Highland Park that inspired everyone to reimagine their neighborhood streets.
  • Team4NJ Safe Passing Law, a task force of the NJ Bike and Walk Coalition for their decade-long effort on the NJ Safe Passing Law that requires drivers to give four feet of space or reduce their speed to 25 miles per hour when approaching and overtaking people walking or riding a bicycle.

2021 NEW JERSEY SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL CHAMPION

  • West Orange Township Pedestrian Safety Advisory Board for their extraordinary work on addressing walking and bicycling safety in West Orange including the Pop-Up Bike Lane Demonstration Project along Woodland Avenue to Redwood Elementary School.

View the Full Awards Ceremony here.

The 2021 Complete Streets Summit was a day full of amazing insights from innovative and successful Complete and Green Streets efforts from across the state. These examples inspired anyone looking to get the ball rolling or advance further towards developing Complete and Green communities.

The recordings of the Summit sessions are available below and on the njbikeped YouTube Channel. You can also find short summaries and videos on each session below.

Session 1
COMPLETE STREETS IN NEW JERSEY: A 10-YEAR LOOK BACK
Jon Carnegie, Director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University welcomed everyone to the 6th New Jersey Complete Streets Summit made possible due to the continued support of NJDOT. Assistant Commissioner Mike Russo and Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti provided their opening remarks recognizing the importance and progress made towards Complete and Green Streets in the State.

At its core, Complete Streets is about creating a transportation system that safely accommodates all road users. However, the benefits of Complete Streets extend far beyond transportation safety. – Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, NJDOT

Following the welcome and opening remarks, the session heard from a number of panelists from organizations across the State on the intersectionality between their own work and Complete Streets.
The presentations highlighted how and why Complete Streets have made an impact in organizations across the board over the past ten years, as well as informed about a series of successful Complete and Green Streets policies, projects, and partnerships.

Complete Streets policies are local and apply to any area. – Tara Shepherd, Executive Director, goHunterdon

Following is a video of the session COMPLETE STREETS IN NEW JERSEY: A 10-YEAR LOOK BACK.

Session 2
CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE: WHAT’S IN STORE FOR COMPLETE STREETS IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS
The second session got into what the future of Complete and Green Streets holds and means from a policy, research, and implementation standpoint. The panelists dived deeper into changes in people’s behaviors and perceptions due to COVID-19, mobility shifts towards micromobility, and taking an equitable and inclusive approach to create safer and more accessible roadway environments.

The future of Complete Streets is more equitable, inclusive, and just. – Olivia Glenn, Deputy Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

See the video of the Session CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE: WHAT’S IN STORE FOR COMPLETE STREETS IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS.

Session 3
PUTTING IT DOWN ON PAPER: COMPLETE AND GREEN STREETS POLICY DEVELOPMENT, ADOPTION, AND PROMOTION
Focusing on policy, the third session centered how NJDOT became a national leader in Complete Streets policy in 2009 and continued to advance from there. The session included planners and elected officials from diverse communities sharing their key takeaways on how and why to build support and advance Complete and Green Streets in your community.

If you invite them to share thoughts, they will own it. – Commissioner Robert Lewandowski, Borough of Collingwood

Here is the video of the Session PUTTING IT DOWN ON PAPER: COMPLETE AND GREEN STREETS POLICY DEVELOPMENT, ADOPTION, AND PROMOTION.

Session 4
TURN POLICY INTO ACTION: COMPLETE AND GREEN STREETS RESOURCES AND LOCAL LESSONS LEARNED
This session took an implementation track and provided the most recent information on a range of Complete and Green Streets implementation resources and assistance efforts. The speakers talked about upcoming Complete Streets trainings, different types of funding options, mapping and prioritizing Environmental Justice communities, and discussed findings from demonstration projects in multi-jurisdictional settings.

With funding for technical assistance, communities have the chance to self-organize […] that can go a long way for getting people together, getting organized, reaching different sectors of the community, getting local leadership, as well as stand out for getting public grants. – Keith Hamas, Principal Planner, New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority

See the video of the Session TURN POLICY INTO ACTION: COMPLETE AND GREEN STREETS RESOURCES AND LOCAL LESSONS LEARNED.

Session 5
A CALL TO ACTION: MOVING FORWARD WITH COMPLETE AND GREEN STREETS

After receiving so much information on moving forward with Complete and Green Streets, Leigh Ann Von Hagen from the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center and Elise Bremer-Nei from NJDOT concluded the Summit by calling everyone to participate in building a better, safer and more accessible system.
The closing session also included remarks from the founder of the National Complete Streets Coalition, Barbara McCann, now Senior Advisor to the Associate Administrator for Safety, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) emphasizing on the need to design safe systems.

We have a commitment to both the Vision Zero and the underlying Safe Systems Approach. – Barbara McCann, Senior Advisor, FHWA

Click below to watch the Session A CALL TO ACTION: MOVING FORWARD WITH COMPLETE AND GREEN STREETS


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