Kingston committee hears Madison lessons on Complete and Green Streets, Vision Zero and snow‑clearing

Grant Foster, a former Madison Common Council member, told Kingston’s Beach Streets committee that Madison overhauled transportation by creating a separate Department of Transportation, adopting a Complete and Green Streets policy and pursuing a Vision Zero safety goal.

“Vision 0 … allowed us as a community to start grappling with the reality of traffic violence and, really allowed us to prioritize safety, above things like motor vehicle throughput,” Foster said, summarizing the policy shift he helped push in Madison.

Foster said Madison consolidated several advisory bodies into a single transportation commission with greater authority, hired a director of transportation to provide leadership beyond traffic engineering and developed street typologies to guide design choices. The Complete and Green Streets framework, he said, gives staff and engineers a…