CalBike Members Score Complete Streets Victory

On May 13, the CalBike Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127) was going nowhere. It had been placed on the “suspense file” in the Appropriations Committee. The bill would require Caltrans to make state-controlled city streets safe for people to walk and bike, not just places for fast-moving cars and trucks, when they repaired or repaved streets.

Senators Portantino and Atkins had the power to move SB 127 forward or squash it. Questions about the costs of Complete Streets safety improvements threatened to derail the bill.

Then something amazing happened. We asked CalBike members and Complete Streets supporters from the districts of these two senators to call and email them. You responded and your senators listened. On May 16, at deadline, the Senators decided to move the the Complete Streets bill out of committee and to the Senate floor for a vote.

This is an inspiring example of the importance of speaking up for safe streets for everyone. Every one of us has the power to help bring Complete Streets to California state routes.

We can’t take a victory lap just yet. The Complete Streets bill will get a floor vote from the whole Senate in the next two weeks. We need to keep the pressure on all our state senators to support this important legislation. After that, we have to do it all over again in the Assembly, where the bill faces the challenging Transportation Committee.

Sign our Complete Streets petition to show your support and stay informed.

Find out more about Complete Streets here.