From 2009 through May 2012 alone, Westchester County was home to 2,442 vehicle crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists, according to crash data obtained from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). And while New York State passed a state-wide Complete Streets law that requires design on roadways to consider the safe accommodation of all road users-pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and motorists alike-the law only applies to roads that are funded with state and federal dollars. That’s a problem for addressing unsafe pedestrian and cycling conditions on county roads which are often funded solely through local dollars. It is also the reason why some Westchester County legislators are pushing for a county-wide Complete Streets proposal.

The idea was raised at last week’s Board of Legislators (BOL) Government Oversight Committee meeting by Committee Chairwoman Catherine Borgia and Legislator MaryJane Shimsky, where it was met with widespread support by other members of the committee. However, the legislation has yet to move from the committee to the full County Board. If the BOL ends up adopting a complete streets policy, it would be only the second county policy adopted in the downstate New York region, following Suffolk County’s policy adoption last December.

In order to support passage of a Westchester County Complete Streets policy and provide legislators with information to guide the discussion, Tri-State recently developed two tools:

• Maps and fact sheets of bicyclist and pedestrian crashes in Westchester County. The fact sheets break down the number of collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists from January 2009 through May 2012, as well as a list of Westchester municipalities with 30 or more pedestrian and bicyclist collisions in the same time period.

• List of state and county roads by Westchester County legislative districts. These fact sheets will help guide county officials with the implementation of complete streets initiatives by making state and county roads more easily identifiable and highlighting which county roads most urgently need pedestrian and bicycle safety design treatments.

Editor note: this post has been revised.