How do we design for all ages, abilities and modes of travel? Keep reading!
A Complete Street is designed for all ages, abilities and modes of travel. On Complete Streets, safe and comfortable access for pedestrians, bicycles, transit users, and the mobility-impaired is not an afterthought, but an integral planning feature. A Complete Streets policy ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire street network for all road users, not only motorists. Complete Streets offer wide ranging benefits: they are cost effective, sustainable, and safe.
The Complete Streets catalogues produced by our partners The Centre for Active Transportation and the Montréal Urban Ecology Center offer inventories of Complete Street projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario and the province of Quebec, to illustrate how Complete Streets principles are being applied in practice. Although these resources only capture some of the street transformation examples, the Centre for Active Transportation also hosts and curates the Complete Streets for Canada website, which includes a map of Completes Streets projects and policies across Canada. This website and map allows us to continue to provide decision-makers, professionals, and communities with up-to-date information on the Complete Streets movement across the country.
The Complete Streets Catalogue: Understanding Complete Streets in the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region (produced by the Centre for Active Transportation in 2014) features projects from 19 municipalities that reflect the diversity of Complete Streets approaches being implemented by municipalities across the region. The data is presented in an easy-to-navigate and accessible way so that municipalities seeking to implement their own Complete Streets strategies can refer to existing examples and tailor approaches for their own needs. The catalogue includes the following information:
- A quick reference checklist of the components of featured Complete Streets projects
- More comprehensive descriptions of the projects for users who are looking for more details
- Several case studies that reflect the diversity of Complete Streets approaches in the region
Based on the methodology used by TCAT, the Montréal Urban Ecology Centre produced a parallel resource in 2019, called Des Rues Inspirantes: Un inventaire pour passer à l’action. This catalogue (available only in French but the projects are also profiled in English on the Complete Streets for Canada map) features Complete Streets projects from nine municipalities across Québec
The catalogues showcase what Complete Streets might look like in diverse contexts, and the varied options for street design that fit within the Complete Streets umbrella. The documents can help decision-makers and transportation professionals understand Complete Streets design options that may work in their unique contexts.
You can learn more about the Complete Streets approach on the Complete Streets for Canada website, an online hub for the Complete Streets movement hosted and curated by The Centre for Active Transportation.
Other resources
Ville de Québec - Complete Streets projects (in French)
Transportation Association of Canada - Complete Streets : Policy and Practice in Canada
Ministère des affaires municipales et de l'habitation - La rue complète, l’accessibilité universelle qui fait du chemin (In French)
Smart Growth America - National Complete Streets Coalition
Transports Canada - Complete Streets: Making Canada’s roads safer for all
Vélo Québec - Politique de rues complètes (In French)