Fuschillo to be honored for ‘Complete Streets’ law

New York State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican of Merrick, will be honored at Vision Long Island’s 11th annual Smart Growth Awards at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury in June for his role in authoring the state’s “Complete Streets” law.

Vision Long Island is a nonprofit environmental and “smart-growth” organization that promotes the best architectural and engineering practices to help create a more sustainable world.

Under Fuschillo’s measure, which was passed last year and took effect in February, all state, county and local transportation agencies are required to consider complete-streets design principles on future projects that receive both federal and state funding.

Complete-streets designs incorporate road features that facilitate safe travel by pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists of all ages and abilities. The features include sidewalks, paved shoulders suitable for bicyclists, bicycle lanes, shared road signage, crosswalks, pedestrian control signals, bus pull-outs, curb cuts, raised crosswalks, ramps, and traffic calming measures that allow pedestrian and motor traffic to coexist.

A Federal Highway Administration safety review found that roads designed with complete-streets features enable pedestrians to cross busy roads in two stages, improve bicycle safety and reduce left-turning motorist crashes to zero.

"This law will help save lives and make our roads safer for everyone,” said Fuschillo, who is chairman of the Senate’s Transportation Committee. “Complete-streets design principles have been proven to reduce fatalities and injuries.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 300 pedestrians were killed on New York’s roadways in 2009, more than 45 other states. Twenty-six percent of all traffic fatalities in New York in 2009 involved pedestrians, more than double the national average. Between 2000 and 2009, over 3,200 pedestrians were killed in New York, according to Transportation for America, a coalition of organizations seeking to improve roadway safety.