The small town of Kirkland, Wash., is attracting droves of official visitors from other cities. A leafy suburb of Seattle, Kirkland hugs the shoreline of sparkling Lake Washington and boasts 42 parks, two dozen public sculptures and even a nonprofit coffeehouse (owned by Internet executives) where customers pay only what they want for their lattes and pastries.

But it's Kirkland's streets that are the big draw for officials from other towns, towns that want to follow its lead and design public thoroughfares that accommodate all members of the public—not just those who drive. The visitors—from urban centers and sprawling suburbs alike—want to learn how to keep traffic moving without adding new lanes and how to make busy roadways safe for bike riders and walkers. With Americans aging and facing mobility challenges, communities are looking for ways to help residents get around safely.

Kirkland accomplishes all this with wide sidewalks, flowered medians and flashing lights embedded in crosswalks at busy intersections. Bike lanes and bus stops line even some of the town's busiest streets. At many corners, pedestrians can pick up a red flag to catch drivers' attention, cross and return the flag to a holder.

"We consider walking and biking forms of transportation in Kirkland," explains Deputy Mayor Joan McBride. "We've been doing this for years."

Kirkland is in the vanguard of a growing national movement to plan "complete streets," which allow pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit riders to share the road safely with automobiles. It's one of 52 cities and towns, six counties and 10 regional governments that now have policies requiring their transportation agencies to ensure that roads are routinely designed or redesigned for all modes of travel.

Fourteen states have complete street laws, too; the California Assembly just passed a complete street bill that is headed to the Senate, and the Illinois legislature has sent a similar measure to the governor. The message has reached Capitol Hill, where discussions are under way about a bill in the Senate that would require any road project using federal funds to meet complete street standards, if appropriate.

"The goal is to get something on the books to make planning for the needs of all residents a routine part of transportation design," says Barbara McCann, coordinator of the National Complete Streets Coalition. Coalition members—groups that support complete streets laws—range from AARP to the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

It may be too soon to declare that communities that recently adopted complete street policies will substantially increase walking and biking and safety. But after a long commitment to pedestrian safety, Seattle has the lowest pedestrian fatality rate among U.S. cities, and Portland, Ore., which years ago dedicated itself to creating bicycle-friendly streets, has the highest bicycle ridership.

"When people walk out their doors, their streets should give them options—do they want to drive or walk, ride a bus or bike?" says Bill Wilkinson, executive director of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking in Bethesda, Md. "And if they choose to walk or bike or bus, they shouldn't feel like they are taking their life in their hands."

But in the past 20 years alone, the United States has morphed from a country where every other child walked or biked to school to a nation where only one in eight can do that, says Dan Burden, the founder of Walkable Communities Inc., a nonprofit consulting firm in Orlando, Fla. "Changing our streets is an issue that touches on livability and community for everyone," he says.

Carolyn Hayek says her family moved to Kirkland from a suburb where "we were only blocks from the school, but the streets were too busy, too unsafe" for children to walk from home. In Kirkland, her daughter not only walked to school, but her husband is now a dedicated walker and has lost weight. "Life is just easier," she says. "We had three cars before, and now we can go days without getting in a car."

Leona Hansen, 80, moved to Kirkland "because I don't drive. Here I can walk to the lake, the senior center, the stores or use public transportation. Do I use the pedestrian flags? You bet. I love them."

Advocates maintain that complete streets are not antimotorist, nor are they necessarily more expensive. Kirkland's experience is a case in point.

In 1992, the town was granted $3 million in state and federal funds toward the cost of adding three lanes to a busy two-lane street—and it turned down the money. Instead, says Daryl Grigsby, director of public works, Kirkland spent $400,000 to expand the street's intersections—a move that helped the traffic flow—and was able to maintain and even add to the sidewalks along the street.

"The road is still two lanes, and traffic is fine today," Grigsby says. "Cars move, people walk and the sense of community is preserved."