The next time someone refers to a sidewalk as a too-expensive “amenity,” think about Powell Calhoun and Donna Williams.

Right: the crash site, where Powell Calhoun and Donna Williams traveled on Friday, March 30. (16 WAPT News)

They were hit by a car as they walked and rolled along a frontage road in Jackson, Mississippi two weeks ago. Ms. Williams uses a wheelchair and Mr. Calhoun helped push her around the streets of Jackson. He died at the scene; she died a few days later of her injuries. The deaths were all the more painful because three years ago, another man using a wheelchair was killed as he traveled in the breakdown lane of another Jackson road without an accessible sidewalk.

Dr. Scott Crawford, a longtime supporter of Complete Streets and a member of Jackson’s ADA advisory council, was friends with Ms. Williams. He blames a failure to build Complete Streets for the deaths.

“Many may wonder: ‘Why were they in the street with a wheelchair?’ ” says Crawford. “The answer is simple. Our society hasn’t yet decided to build and maintain roadways that are safe for ALL its users, including vulnerable ones like bicyclists and pedestrians, and especially those with disabilities.”

Right: Donna Williams, exiting a bus. (Photo: Dr. Scott Crawford)

Dr. Crawford says Williams had spoken to ADA Council members about the need for ADA compliance, and the fact that when she encountered a road without a sidewalk, she didn’t have the option of walking in the grass.

The man driving the car that has not yet been charged, and police made a sympathetic comment that the couple may have been in his ‘blind spot’ – an attitude that recalls the case of Raquel Nelson in Georgia.

From our perspective, even more glaring is the fact that the public right of way had no safe place for Calhoun and Williams to travel. I’d guess that right now hundreds of people who use wheelchairs are out in the street across the United States, because there is no sidewalk, or an obstructed sidewalk, or no accessible curb ramp between their home and their destination.

At this point, I could quote statistics about pedestrian deaths from Dangerous by Design. But right now, I’m not thinking about statistics. I’m thinking about Powell Calhoun and his wife, Donna Williams, and their friends and families.

Let’s build Complete Streets for them.

T4 Editors note: Today, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger published an op-ed by Dr. Crawford about this incident and the larger issue of making streets safer for everyone. Read that in full here.

Lest readers think these are simply isolated incidents, consider the fact that in the first decade of the 21st century, there were more than 47,700 pedestrian deaths on America’s roadways, the equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every month for an entire decade. Media attention for disasters like this would be intense, and the public outcry would be enormous.

Are not pedestrian deaths on our streets at least as avoidable as plane crashes? Aren’t those individuals on bicycles, walking, and riding wheelchairs at least as valuable as those driving automobiles or flying?

An amendment offered by Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska), and modified by Senator Thune (R-SD), directs the DOT Secretary to “establish standards to ensure that the design of Federal surface transportation projects provides for the safe and adequate accommodation … of all users of the transportation network, including motorized and non-motorized users.”

Transportation for America’s director, James Corless, offered this statement in response:

“The Commerce Committee’s measures offer critical policy direction at a time when our key national infrastructure program is in urgent need of renewed focus and reinvigoration. Establishing national goals and performance-based objectives for our investment in transportation would be a vast improvement over our current system, improving accountability and transparency of federal transportation spending. The Surface Transportation and Freight Policy Act would go a long way toward ensuring that we get the most bang for the buck from our increasingly constrained transportation dollars.

At a time when pedestrian fatalities and injuries are rising as other traffic fatalities fall, the Begich amendment would help to improve safety for everyone on our roads and save money. With support from the full Senate and incorporation into the House’s companion bill, these measures would establish safety, fairness and efficiency as the hallmarks of the next authorization.”

Gannett “uncovers” the fact that federal transportation dollars are given out to states with little accountability for how the money is spent. (LoHud.com)

Does MAP-21 mean big changes for freight in the U.S.? (Tri-State Transportation Campaign)

Apathy from lawmakers could be the reason that the pretax transit benefit could get slashed in half come January 1. (Politico)

Traffic fatalities reach record low as pedestrian fatalities rise. Relatedly, 12 pedestrians were struck in a suburban D.C. county in less than 72 hours. Two died. (Governing, Washington Post)

Politico’s Adam Snider reports that “Rep. Steve LaTourette, at a private transportation meeting yesterday with stakeholders and staffers, said House leaders had approached Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman John Mica to suggest paring down the highway bill to two or three years, according to several sources at the meeting.” (Politico Morning Transportation)

A conservative think-tank writer says that the GOP plan for expanding oil drilling and depositing revenues in the Highway Trust Fund is a bad idea, though not necessarily for the reasons you might think. (National Review)

Despite what naysayers often suggest during state and local discussions over the policy, Complete Streets aren’t too expensive. (Streetsblog)

A former Montana DOT director and current gubernatorial candidate suggests that government should get out of the way of the private sector in regards to transportation. (Missoulian)

NYC DOT: Commuter Biking in NYC Doubled in Last Four Years. (Transportation Nation)

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell outlines his transportation plan, including increasing transportation’s share of the state sales tax. Not mentioned in this article is a fact mentioned at the same conference: Virginia will be out of money for new capacity and focused 100% on maintenance within 5 years if no new revenue is found. (Bloomberg)

Public transit ridership continues its upward trend with a 2 percent increase in third quarter compared to 3Q last year. Agencies still planning fare increases and service cuts. (USA Today)

Former MassDOT vet believes that America should move to a per-mile road tax, believing that new technology can help “open the door” to more investment and smarter roads. (CNN)

A bipartisan group of House members sent a letter to the President asking him to help move a long-term reauthorization with between $400 and $600 billion for transportation investment, taking a few subtle shots at the Senate’s two-year reauthorization plan. (The Hill)

Michigan Rep. Gary Peters suggests that postwar America can teach today’s America a lesson about investing in transportation (and transit specifically) to help grow our economy and put us on the path to prosperity. (Detroit Free Press)

The controversial Columbia River Crossing, a multi-billion dollar bridge replacement in Portland for Interstate 5, crossed a crucial federal hurdle. The state is looking to the feds to pick up half the cost of the $3-billion-plus project. (The Oregonian)

Five former U.S. Secretaries of Transportation talked about the future of investing in America’s transportation system at an event sponsored by the UVA Miller Center here in Washington, D.C. (Miller Center, Streetsblog)

Kaid Benfield of NRDC profiles some  the winners of the EPA’s Smart Growth Awards that were selected this week, including T4 America partner Normal, Illinois. (Atlantic Cities)

Big changes loom on the horizon for TIFIA and the other federal credit programs that can help finance infrastructure. House and Senate may have different proposals, but TIFIA will likely make it into any final bill. (Transportation Issues Daily)

Sen. Claire McCaskill has offered a proposal to take money from the defense budget for Afghanistan infrastructure programs and redirect it to U.S. transportation infrastructure, likely into the Highway Trust Fund. (Huffington Post)

Walkability is a major selling point in the successful real estate markets surrounding New York City. (New York Times Real Estate)

The Senate’s MAP-21 transportation bill proposal would make some interesting, positive changes that could benefit rural residents. (Public News Service)

A diverse coalition of interests in Montana, the home state of Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, pressed for passage. (Great Falls Tribune)

Despite being zero-funded in the most-recent budget bill, high-speed moves forward due to funds rejected by several governors. (The Hill)

The “fringe suburb,” a contributor to the housing bubble that crashed the economy, is effectively dead, argued Christopher Leinberger. (NY Times)

And, the last round of grant recipients before the Partnership for Sustainable Communities loses funding was bittersweet. (Streetsblog Capitol Hill)

Taxpayers for Common Sense said the House Republican plan to pay for infrastructure through drilling “is not a responsible budget approach.” (Streetsblog Capitol Hill)

Orlando’s Lymmo bus service has the potential for further expansion, including to the state’s popular SunRail system. (Orlando Sentinel)

Connecticut received federal support for an inter-city bus rapid transit system. (Transpo Nation)

And, the most recent transportation budget contains key changes to the DC area’s Airport Authority. (WaPo)

Leading transportation industries, such as automakers and truckers, lean Republican in 2012. (TBD)

The San Francisco Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission is using more performance measures for project selection. (San Jose Mercury News)

Language in the recent “minibus” spending bill will make it easier for Detroit’s Woodward light-rail project to receive funding. (Detroit Free Press)

And, key House Democrat Nick Rahall is co-sponsoring a bill to create transportation jobs for out-of-work veterans. (Beckley Register-Herald)

Speaker John Boehner and transportation committee chairman John Mica promised to move quickly on legislation to pay for infrastructure with drilling. (Journal of Commerce)

House Democrats blasted the proposal as partisan and  “short on details.” (The Hill)

And, several groups also weighed in, along with key Senators Boxer and Inhofe. (Sierra Club, NRDC, Competitive Enterprise Institute, EPW Majority and Minority)