Delivering the Complete Streets Initiative for Orange County, California

Steer led the delivery of the Orange County Complete Streets Initiative, with the aim of helping Orange County jurisdictions create a transportation network that serves all users, regardless of mode of transportation, age or ability. 

We undertook a comprehensive Needs Assessment Survey for all Orange County jurisdictions which showed that Complete Street principles are often being applied in projects, however many jurisdictions had not adopted a specific Complete Streets policy, and furthermore they faced barriers to implementing Complete Streets including limited public funding and a lack of information or technical expertise. 

We developed a suite of flexible policies and design guidance that could help address these issues, specifically tailored to suit the character, use, and capacity of all street types within the diverse transportation network of Orange County.

The core output of the Complete Streets Initiative is a Design Handbook to help realise Complete Streets in Orange County. This includes:

• Design principles for nine different street types, ranging from residential streets through to large-scale movement corridors
• Technical guidance on how to design specific street elements for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and others
• An overview of implementation processes, and unit cost estimates for street elements

In addition, a Funding Toolkit has been developed that explains grants, including what they can be used for and how to apply for them.