Lakewood refers new complete‑streets ordinance and citizen advisory board to committee amid heated Bunce Road debate

Lakewood council leadership and the administration on April 21 jointly introduced a new complete‑streets ordinance and a companion ordinance to create a Complete & Active Streets Education and Advisory Board, and referred both measures to the Committee of the Whole and the Planning Commission for further review. The public discussion at the council meeting was dominated by residents’ objections to a proposed multimodal shared‑use path planned for Bunce Road, where neighbors said outreach was insufficient and raised safety, driveway conflict, tree‑loss and emergency‑access concerns.

President Keppel read a joint communication from council leadership and Mayor George that described the proposed ordinance as a mechanism to implement goals in the city’s Active Transportation Plan and the Safe Streets for All work adopted last year. The proposed ordinance (to enact section 901.23 of the Lakewood Codified Ordinances) would: require design teams to consider complete‑streets elements in planned transportation projects; create a tiered approach that treats major corridors and intersections (Tier 1) differently from smaller projects (Tier 2); and set up an accountability structure for public engagement and planning‑commission review on key Tier 1 projects.

Cou…