The Next Smallest Step Doesn’t Need To Be Revolutionary
Chances are, your city already has systems in place to address infrastructure concerns. How can you use those systems?
There’s a truism that the faster you move through a place, the less you notice its fine details. Cyclists routinely experience the reverse of that. Strong Towns member Danny Williams commutes and runs errands by bike in Sarasota County, Florida, and shares harrowing photos of his experiences on Instagram (@Sarasota_Commutes).
The county runs a 311 service that allows citizens to report non-life-threatening maintenance and infrastructure issues. Williams decided to take the county up on its offer to solicit citizens’ reports and act on them. He shared this log with us (the log has been lightly edited for grammar and clarity):
9/7/22 — Reported malfunctioning yellow crossing light in front of my mom's building (which is full of older people who cross here to get to their nearest grocery store). The ticket was closed without comment on 9/8.
10/22 — Reported that, despite the ticket from September being closed, the crossing signal still did not work. In May 2023, the ticket was changed to "Activity entered." There were several changes in short succession around that time. The round lights were changed with RRFB (rectangular rapid flashing beacons), which worked temporarily. Then the street was repaved and the lights replaced, and they have been working ever since.
11/12/22 — Reported a crosswalk sign had been turned 90 degrees by hurricane Ian the previous September. By November 15, they had corrected the problem and closed the ticket.
1/30/23 — Reported white aluminum nails in the southbound bike lane north of Venice. Before reporting, I tried to clean them up myself, but my magnet would not pick them up. The ticket was closed without comment, and the nails were scattered over time by traffic.
4/23 — Reported grass encroaching on the bike lane on Knight's Trail. The ticket was closed without comment 2.5 hours later. The grass remains to this day.
5/10/23 — Reported that the signal for the intersection where Northridge Road crosses Honore Avenue no longer detects bicycles. The ticket was closed without comment the next day. To this day, the signal does not recognize bikes (as illustrated in this YouTube video featuring my wife Marcia).
For each of the previous requests, Williams said he never received any feedback; the tickets would simply close, whether they were “fixed, or going to be fixed, or never to be fixed.” For the following requests, he received direct email updates:
09/19/23 — Reported debris in the bike lane on Colonia Lane and U.S. Route 41. On September 20, I saw the street sweeper on Colonia Lane and Pocono Trail! They told me U.S. Route 41 was under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and that I should contact them. I did so, and FDOT said they had already swept it. I never saw any change in the amount of debris on the FDOT roads.
01/23/24 — I noticed 14 streetlights out between the restaurant Nokomos and the Legacy Trail. I reported them and received an email update that they would be replaced at the next scheduled cycle. By the second week of February, 12 of the 14 had been fixed.
01/28/24 — I reported a pothole at the bottom of where Bayview Parkway exits U.S. Route 41. On January 29, they had it (and several others right near there) fixed!
Strong Towns strongly endorses this type of action to achieve the next smallest step in your place. Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn says he does the same thing himself. “This is the system in which a municipality seeks public input. I am more than eager, and willing, to provide that input and engage on that platform," he says. "I feel like this is using the bureaucracy to a citizen’s advantage. The fact that there is a record of an issue means that the city must respond even if their response is silence.”
If their response is silence, Strong Towns Director of Community Action Edward Erfurt advises that “This type of engagement should be followed up with in-person meetings, and should include some suggestions for the next smallest step.” Williams does just that by attending public meetings and being a member of the local citizens advisory board for transit.
Shortly after sharing this log, Williams documented a rapid response that enhanced safety on a local road:
2/17/24 — I noticed this ADA tactile strip crumbling on the sidewalk near my house, so I took a picture and reported it to the Sarasota County 311 system.
They emailed me and said it was an FDOT road, so they would pass the message along.
2/21/24 — I noticed this truck parked right next to the damaged strip.
The next time I rode by, both sides of that driveway were as good as new!
Have you tried using a similar system in your city or county? Tell us about the results in the comments below or via social media.
Are you ready to take the next smallest step? Become a member today!
Ben Abramson is a Staff Writer at Strong Towns. In his career as a travel journalist with The Washington Post and USA TODAY, Ben has visited many destinations that show how Americans were once world-class at building appealing, prosperous places at a human scale. He has also seen the worst of the suburban development pattern, and joined Strong Towns because of its unique way of framing the problems we can all see and intuit, and focusing on local, achievable solutions. A native of Washington, DC, Ben lives in Venice, Florida; summers in Atlantic Canada; and loves hiking, biking, kayaking, and beachcombing.