Nassau County joined its neighbor to the east on Monday by unanimously adopting a county-wide Complete Streets policy. With its passage, Nassau County becomes the tenth local government to adopt a Complete Streets program on Long Island, helping to close loopholes in the New York State law. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano’s effort to push for a Complete Streets policy stemmed from a Tri-State and Vision Long Island organized “Long Island Complete Streets” forum held in April, and builds upon the County Executive’s broader “Walk Safe Nassau” initiative.
In a press release hailing the legislation’s passage, the County Executive touted the new law as an environmentally-friendly congestion buster. “Not only does this law encourage residents to walk, bicycle and take public transportation, it also helps create a situation that will relieve congestion and pollution caused by motor vehicles.”
Complete streets infrastructure in Nassau County will increase transportation choices for Nassau’s residents, while also helping to mitigate preventable injuries and fatalities along county roads. Roads in Nassau County are some of the most dangerous in the region for pedestrians and cyclists, with 84 pedestrians killed in Nassau from 2009-2011. A disproportionate number of those fatalities are pedestrians over 60 years of age. In fact, Nassau County is the fifth most dangerous county in the tri-state region for adults over 60 years of age.
While the legislation was introduced by County Executive Mangano, the effort received bi-partisan support and passage was bolstered by strong legislative champions, including Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves and Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton. In a statement, Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton praised the legislation’s passage as a long time coming:
Throughout my term in the Legislature, I have been meeting with cycling and traffic safety advocates and we have been pushing for Nassau County to embrace Complete Streets legislation. It will protect cyclists and pedestrians. The law is also meant to reduce traffic and pollution by making it easier to travel without a car.
Tri-State, along with safe streets allies, AARP and Vision Long Island, submitted testimony in support of the legislation.
Where can we find a copy of the actual legislation?
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