Complete Streets
Complete Streets are streets designed to accommodate all users, and that prioritize historically underinvested modes of transportation like transit, walking, and biking. An incomplete street might lack adequate sidewalks, low-stress bike infrastructure, or safe and comfortable access to transit.
Effective Complete Streets policies change the way a jurisdiction plans and builds transportation infrastructure—sidewalks, low stress bike infrastructure, and transit should be included in any new or rebuilt street by default, rather than as an add-on when there's space or demand.
While most regional jurisdictions have a Complete Streets policy of some sort, they lack teeth and permit transportation departments to continue to build streets that put cars first and squeeze other modes into the margins.
Events, Actions & Resources:
Action Alert
Taylor Street NE needs a protected bike lane
Jul 31, 2025
Support this important east-west connection!
Action Alert
Support Bike Lanes along Duke Street
Dec 11, 2024
Speak up to make sure the Duke Street bike lanes get built.
Meetup
WABA Preview of the 2025 Maryland Legislative Session
Dec 5, 2024
This event took place on Dec 05, 2024
Meetup
Gallows Road Community Meeting (Virtual Q&A)
Dec 5, 2024
This event took place on Dec 05, 2024
Action Alert
Support Bike Lanes on Wiehle Avenue
Nov 27, 2024
Share your support for bike lanes on Wiehle Ave via FCDOT's one-question survey, by 11/27.
Action Alert
Sanger Avenue Safety Improvements
Nov 25, 2024
Alexandria preparing to study and improve Edsall Rd & Yoakum Pkwy. Share feedback by 11/22.
Action Alert
Edsall Road/Yoakum Parkway Corridor Improvements
Nov 22, 2024
Alexandria is preparing to study and improve Sanger Avenue. Share feedback by 11/25.
Meetup
Gallows Road Community Meeting (Southern Segment)
Nov 21, 2024
This event took place on Nov 21, 2024
Action Alert
ActiveFairfax Transportation Plan – Virtual Open House (Spanish
Nov 20, 2024
Hear from FCDOT staff at one of four upcoming virtual open houses on 11/12, 11/14, 11/19, and 11/20.
Action Alert
ActiveFairfax Transportation Plan – Virtual Open House
Nov 19, 2024
Hear from FCDOT staff at one of four upcoming virtual open houses on 11/12, 11/14, 11/19, and 11/20.
Ride
Ride for Your Life
Nov 17, 2024
This event took place on Nov 17, 2024
Action Alert
Support Bike Lanes on South Pickett St
Nov 16, 2024
Share your support for bike lanes on S Pickett St before City Council votes on Saturday, 11/16.
Action Alert
DDOT Georgia Ave Bus Priority Project Support
Nov 15, 2024
Sign-on to Petworth for Safer Street's letter in favor of better bus service on Georgia Ave NE
Action Alert
Speak up for a more bikeable future in Arlington
Nov 15, 2024
Phase 1 of Arlington’s Master Transportation Plan overhaul is getting input from you! Share your transportation preferences by 11/15.
Action Alert
ActiveFairfax Transportation Plan – Virtual Open House
Nov 14, 2024
Hear from FCDOT staff at one of four upcoming virtual open houses on 11/12, 11/14, 11/19, and 11/20.
Meetup
Gallows Road Community Meeting (Northern Segment)
Nov 14, 2024
This event took place on Nov 14, 2024
Action Alert
Protect the 11th Street NW Bike Lane
Nov 14, 2024
DDOT’s 11th Street NW Protected Bike Lane Project plan sets out to improve safety along a 2-mile stretch of 11th […]
Action Alert
ActiveFairfax Transportation Plan – Virtual Open House
Nov 12, 2024
Hear from FCDOT staff at one of four upcoming virtual open houses on 11/12, 11/14, 11/19, and 11/20.
Action Alert
Join the fight for a safer Old Georgetown Road
Nov 4, 2024
Sign up to join our campaign group to support and improve these important protected bike lanes.
Meetup
Advisory Group for Arlington’s Transportation Future – First Public Meeting
Oct 1, 2024
This event took place on Oct 01, 2024
Meetup
5th Great Montgomery County Bike Summit
Sep 29, 2024
This event took place on Sep 29, 2024
Meetup
Port Towns Sector Plan Open House
Sep 26, 2024
This event took place on Sep 26, 2024
Action Alert
Safety First on Q & R St NW
Sep 25, 2024
A protected east-west route will benefit communities across a wide swath of our city—sign the petition!
Document
Letter: MD 198 Sidewalk Improvements
Aug 27, 2024
Comments on the MD 198/Sandy Spring Rd Sidewalk Improvements Project
Action Alert
Join the “I bike, I buy stuff” campaign
Jul 31, 2024
Business owners are an important stakeholder for street safety redesigns. Join our campaign to remind business owners on Connecticut Ave that their customers get there by bike.
Document
Letter: Supporting better biking on Eisenhower Avenue
Jul 22, 2024
Supporting a road diet on Eisenhower in Alexandria in the name of safety.
Document
Letter: Supporting the South Pickett Street Road Diet
Jul 22, 2024
Supporting a much-needed road diet on S Pickett St in Alexandria.
Document
Letter: Supporting Holland Lane Corridor Improvements
Jul 22, 2024
Supporting bike lanes and safety improvements on Holland Ln in Alexandria.
Document
Letter: MD 201/Kenilworth Avenue project safety alterations
Jun 18, 2024
Recommendations for safety improvements to MD 201/Kenilworth Ave as adjustments are conjunction with Purple Line construction.
Action Alert
The Connecticut Ave NW bike lane needs to happen this year.
Mar 25, 2024
RIP Concept C
Document
Testimony: Parking Minimums Near Transit
Jan 16, 2024
Create a vehicle-parking-minimum exemption for residential development near transit.
Document
Testimony: NVTA Annual Meeting
Jan 11, 2024
Focus on effectively moving people rather than cars, on expanding transit capacity and pedestrian spaces and bikeways rather than vehicle lane miles.
Document
Letter: King Street-Bradlee Safety & Mobility Enhancements
Oct 18, 2023
The project needs full length sidewalks and protected bike lanes.
Document
Letter: 2023 WABA Comments on MDOT CTP for Prince George’s County
Oct 10, 2023
We don’t need wider and more dangerous highways, and we shouldn’t be tentative about creating bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
Document
Letter: People Before Cars Coalition on CC2DCA
Oct 2, 2023
Rail and Trail connections to the airport need to be robust and convenient.
Document
Comment: Takoma Park’s Maple Avenue Connectivity Project
Sep 29, 2023
WABA's recommendations for Takoma Park's Maple Avenue Connectivity Project
Document
Letter: Forest Glen, Wheaton, and Glenmont Community Connections
Sep 12, 2023
Advancing safety and accessibility improvements on the corridor is strongly supported by the community and local elected officials.
Document
Letter: Funding for Unlocking University Boulevard
Sep 8, 2023
This project would build community buy-in for safety improvements along the corridor.
Document
Letter: Braddock Road Share Use Paths
Aug 7, 2023
Braddock Road improvements must include shared use paths and intersection safety treatments.
Document
Letter: Carroll Avenue Improvements
Aug 2, 2023
The corridor needs slower speeds and protected space for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Document
Letter: K Street NE Protected Bike Lane NOI
Jul 19, 2023
This project needs to move forward, and it should include protected intersections.
Document
Letter: Union Station Expansion Bike Infrastructure
Jul 6, 2023
Upgrades to Union Station must include connectivity improvements for people on bikes.
Document
Letter: Fairland and Briggs-Chaney Master Plan
May 4, 2023
Expanded bikeshare, a continuous trail network, and road diets—it's a good plan.
Document
Testimony: Sustainable transportation in Fairfax County
Apr 12, 2023
The county needs to fund its Safe Streets for All program.
Document
Letter: Arizona Ave NW Protected Bike Lanes NOI
Apr 7, 2023
The design for Ward 3's first protected bike lane needs some improvement at intersections.
Document
Letter: Bike Lane Design in Connecticut Avenue Deckover
Mar 15, 2023
Proposed bike lanes are too narrow to be safe.
Document
Letter: Montrose Road Diet
Mar 1, 2023
Montrose Road needs traffic calming and safe spaces for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Document
Letter: RAISE Grant for the Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel
Feb 13, 2023
Support for a safe, grade-separated crossing where the Capital Crescent Trail intersects with Wisconsin Ave in Bethesda.
Document
Letter: Fairfax Parking Reimagined
Feb 2, 2023
The County's parking overhaul needs to require more bike parking.
Action Alert
Bikes Belong in Ward 8
Dec 8, 2024
Today, many Ward 8 residents bike all over Ward 8—for commuting, for exercise, and for fun—but their lives are threatened by unsafe road designs and reckless driving behavior.
Related Campaigns:
Advocacy
WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.
We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.
The DC Low Stress Network
Bike lanes are most effective when they connects to other bike lanes, protected bike lanes, even more so.
WABA works with teams of grassroots volunteers across the District to demand a network of low-stress places to bike. A network where you, your kids, nephews, nieces, or grandkids, can all get where you need to go safely, easily, happily on bikes.
Complete State Roads: Montgomery County
WABA’s Complete State Roads initiative aims to remake state highways in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties as complete streets, boosting safety and mobility for people who walk, bike, roll, or use transit as well as for drivers and their passengers.
The Complete State Roads–Montgomery County report is available at waba.org/stateroads and you can watch a presentation delivered about it at WABA’s 4th Great Montgomery County Bike Summit in 2023.
As part of the Complete State Roads initiative, WABA backed the development of legislation for introduction in the 2024 Maryland legislative session.
Complete State Roads: Prince George's County
WABA’s Complete State Roads initiative aims to promote remaking state highways in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties as complete streets, boosting safety and mobility for people who walk, bike, roll, or use transit as well as for drivers and their passengers.
Prince George’s County presents a particularly urgent safety challenge, with 129 road deaths in 2023, including 39 pedestrians and 3 bicyclists, far higher rates than neighboring Montgomery County. WABA has been pursuing safe-streets and bikeways advocacy, including in state-road corridors in the county, for some time. And as part of the Complete State Roads initiative, WABA backed the development of legislation for introduction in the 2024 Maryland legislative session. Follow the link for information on that campaign.
Montgomery County Equitable Bikeways
Montgomery County's piecemeal approach to building bike infrastructure is not aligned with its stated climate, safety, and equity goals,
In 2021, WABA assembled a proposal that prioritized projects in the county's existing (and laudabe!) Bicycle Master Plan within county-designates Equity Focus Areas. You can read the report here. With around $110 million, the County could build all of the Tier 1 bikeway projects in most of the equity emphasis areas in the County. This dollar amount spread over the FY 23-28 six year capital budget period is consistent with current commitments to biking and walking
Active Fairfax Transportation Plan
Active Fairfax launched in 2020 to consolidate the county's various policies and plans guiding the development of trails and bikeways. WABA has worked with Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling and grassroots advocates across the county to ensure that the plan lays the groundwork for a robust bike network across the county.
The resulting draft map and Active Transportation Toolkit lay out a vision for where and what a comprehensive all-ages-and-abilities active transportation network could and should look like. What it does not do is fund or otherwise begin to build out this ambitious network – we’re certain to face a budget battle in the future, but hopefully one we’re well-equipped to win by having the right plan in place.
Connecticut Ave NW
Connecticut Ave NW is a busy corridor that connects downtown DC to Bethesda, Maryland. It's a high-speed, multi-lane road without adequate infrastructure for safe biking and walking. In 2019 The District Department of Transportation began studying ways to make the corridor safer. Working with Ward 3 Bike Advocates and a host of grassroots volunteers, WABA organized broad support for a variety of safety improvements, including protected bike lanes from Woodley Park to the Maryland border. In December of 2021, Mayor Bowser announced that the District would move forward with a design concept that included protected bike lanes.
Despite this broad support, and the 2021 announcement, in the spring of 2024, DDOT announced that it would be moving forward with a bike-lane-free design for the corridor, apparently because of concerns about parking. WABA is working with local advocates, business owners, and the DC Council to move the project forward.
Q and R Street Protected Bike Lanes
The painted, unprotected bike lanes on Q and R Streets Northwest are the longest east-west bike corridor in DC's core.
Bicyclists who use these lanes must navigate stopped vehicles, drivers veering into the bike lane, inch-close dangerous passing, and the constant threat of being “doored.” Unsurprisingly, these lanes do not meet DDOT’s own low-stress bikeway design standards.
WABA is working with group of grassroots advocates to persuade DDOT to convert these lanes to protected bike lanes.
Old Georgetown Road
In response to a series of fatal crashes along the corridor, and sustained pressure from WABA, Montgomery County Families for Safe Streets, Action Committee for Transit, and other grassroots advocates, the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration installed three miles of protected bike lanes on Old Georgetown Road (MD 187) in North Bethesda.
The lanes proved effective: in the 15 months after they were installed, there were no pedestrian or bicyclist injuries on the corridor. Despite this safety improvement, the project continues to face some opposition as a result of misconceptions about its impact on car traffic.