By John Ritter, USA TODAY
A growing number of states and local governments are rejecting a half-century of transportation practice and demanding that streets accommodate all types of travel, not just automobiles.

The concept of “complete streets” — with bike lanes, sidewalks and room for mass transit — has attracted a diverse national alliance of supporters, including advocates for senior citizens and the disabled.

Fourteen states, six counties, 10 regional governments and 52 cities have complete streets policies, according to the National Complete Streets Coalition. In Illinois, a complete streets bill awaits the governor’s signature. In California, a bill passed one house.

Massachusetts and at least 11 cities — including Seattle, Honolulu, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Madison, Wis., and Jackson, Miss. — have approved complete streets policies since last year, the coalition says.

Some states, such as Oregon and Florida, have had the equivalent of complete streets policies for years, but the “overarching concept jelled just in the last few years,” coalition coordinator Barbara McCann says.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, plans to sponsor a federal complete streets bill, spokeswoman Jennifer Mullen says.

“We didn’t build sidewalks here for 50 years,” says Norm Steinman, planning manager for Charlotte’s transportation department. “Streets designed by traffic engineers in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s were mostly for autos.”

Advocates say complete streets can help fight obesity by making it easier to walk and give seniors who don’t drive more options.

“As an aging society, we need to look at the ability to get where we want to go not just as the driver of a car,” says Elinor Ginzler, AARP’s livable communities director. “Walking safely, getting to the bus stop safely, has to become more possible.”

Critics say the policies ignore decades of transportation planning that carved cities into networks of roads according to their function.

“I’m not really a big fan of complete streets,” says David Hartgen, emeritus transportation professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “You encourage drivers to divert to other neighborhoods. You’re dumping your auto pollution on someone else. And ultimately it’s not very effective. You haven’t changed total travel.”

The League of California Cities opposes the complete streets bill because it would require local governments to adopt it without allocating more planning money.

“It’s not that we don’t agree with the ideas behind the bill,” says Bill Higgins, the league’s senior attorney.

Auto club AAA hasn’t taken a position on complete streets, but addressing all street users’ needs upfront “is a good thing,” spokesman Geoff Sundstrom says.