On July 25th Sharpsburg Borough, a Live Well Allegheny Community, passed a Complete Streets resolution. A Complete Streets resolution indicates that the municipality will focus on building a healthy community by making its streets safer for all types of users including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transit users. More information on the effort can be found here: https://smartgrowthamerica.org/program/national-complete-streets-coalition/what-are-complete-streets/.
We talked to Councilwoman Brittany Reno about why Sharpsburg passed a Complete Streets resolution. She highlighted the fact that the community has many residents who rely on walking, cycling, and public transit to get where they need to go. Since Sharpsburg is beginning to experience more private and public investment, it is important to ensure that future development in the borough improves the overall quality of life and safety for all residents and visitors of Sharpsburg, not just motorists.
Sharpsburg has several upcoming projects that will be important to implementing Complete Streets in the borough, Councilwoman Reno said, including a redesign for the Main Street business district streetscape. With this project, they are critically considering accessibility, safety, pedestrian experience, and traffic flow improvements.
The councilwoman also told us that educating the community about Complete Streets has spurred positive dialogue between residents and business owners. Since most residents and business owners in Sharpsburg agree that creating safer streets for people of all ages and all methods of transportation is worthwhile, they have seen a lot of support and excitement around Complete Streets.
We are excited to see Sharpsburg’s commitment to this initiative and look forward to supporting this Live Well Community as they take their next steps to creating Complete Streets across the municipality.