CLAYTON • More than two months after the issue first came before the St. Louis County Council, the Complete Streets initiative appears to at last be pedaling toward final resolution.
Approval of the bill is expected when the council reconvenes next week.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Nick Kasoff told the council on Tuesday about the amended measure.
Kasoff is among the Complete Streets opponents who derailed the legislation as it steamrolled toward passage in November.
The bill the council takes up next week is the third version to be considered by county lawmakers.
Complete Streets, a nationwide initiative aimed at expanding bicycle and pedestrian access on current roadways, has been adopted by 600 communities across the U.S. including, locally, St. Louis City, Clayton and Ferguson.
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Critics, including Kasoff, maintain that the main focus of the initiative — the addition of bike lanes to current roadways — is costly and unnecessary.
Dedicated lanes for bicycles, opponents further argue, pose more of a danger to cyclists than traveling with the normal flow of traffic.
Councilman Pat Dolan, the bill’s co-sponsor, said the amended legislation cleared up many of the “misconceptions” about the county’s intent.
“There was never any intention to put a bike path on every county road,” said Dolan.
The final bill, he added, was crafted in consultation with the county division of Highways, Traffic and Public Works — a department that also raised concerns about the previous Complete Streets proposal.
Dolan emphasized that budgetary considerations along with input from the highway department would enter into every decision about which road projects will include Complete Streets upgrades.
“If it’s cost prohibitive then they won’t put in a bike path,” the councilman said.
