Office of Planning & Development

Information and resources related to Complete Streets in New Hampshire.

Introduction to Complete Streets

Complete Streets is a nationwide program that is part of the Smart Growth America Coalition. Smart Growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land uses, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed use development with a range of housing choices.

The goal of Complete Streets is to integrate people and safety into the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of our transportation networks. This helps to ensure that streets are safe for people of all ages and abilities, help balance the needs of different transportation modes, and support local land uses, economies, cultures, and natural environments.

Complete Streets in New Hampshire

Complete Streets have arrived in New Hampshire with several communities having already implemented Complete Street design techniques and a few more in the planning stages of creating a Complete Streets network between communities. One option for communities interested in the Complete Streets program would be for them to contact their Regional Planning Commissions (RPC) for technical assistance. Each RPC is well versed and experienced in transportation issues and trends within their regions and are quite adept at identifying individual transportation and safety needs of their member communities.

Communities can also work with their RPC through their Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) to incorporate Complete Streets design standards within other state or federal grant application programs like Safe Routes to School (SRTS), State Ten Year Transportation Plan (TYP), and the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP).