Highway Bill Sends Billions to Bike Trails

[question everything]

Highway Bill Sends Billions to Bike Trails

By EMILY JOHNS, Associated Press WriterThu Aug 11

When Erika Sass moved here (Minneapolis) from Washington state, she had a choice of how to get to work: hop in the car and drive 15 minutes or get on her bike and pedal an hour.

(snip)

The transportation bill signed Wednesday by President Bush spends most of its $286.4 billion on road-building, but it also includes a chunk of change — $3 billion by one group's estimate — to expand cycling and walking trails. The Twin Cities are getting $25 million from a pilot project designed to measure how such trails can help reduce road congestion.

"We want to figure out how to make these trails useful, not just for fitness but for actual transportation," said Lea Schuster of Transit for Livable Communities in St. Paul.

According to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a bicycle advocacy group, Minneapolis already has more people biking to work than any other city — 2.63 percent of commuters.

(snip)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050811/ap_on_re_us/bike_trail_money_1;_ylt=AkVP3_aBOW1NEmBHXKrhzIn0vnUA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[Wickerman]

1. Mixed about this

Delighted, as a biker, that we will have even more and improved trails. Pissed of that so much of this monsterous bill was giveaways of the like to make creeps like Coleman look good to constituents. So many other things this country needs than 300B on roads.

[question everything]

3. I would say that most cyclists do not have any use for Coleman

or for any other Republican - Bush's "aggressive " cycling notwithstanding.

The weekend before last I mingled with some cyclists who did "Tour the Pepin" and was delighted to see the organizer with a kerry-Edwards sticker on his car.

As a general rule - shoppers at REI are Democrats, shoppers at Cabella are Bushies.

[LeftyElvis]

2. Bike

Trails; of course; bush is a cyclist (training wheels and all). Unfortunately the large population of fat freepers won't be ditching their SUVs to drive to KFC anytime soon.

[bvar22]

4. Love the Minnesota bike trails!!

Pedal them all the time.
Overjoyed at the new funding!
Maybe the last link of the Gateway Trail (St Paul to Duluth) can be completed with the new funding.
Some of the older trails could use some smoothing too!

[mndfl]

5. Mark Kennedy opposes trails funding

Mark Kennedy is a staunch opponent of trails funding.

http://www.mnbiketrails.com/main.asp?SectionID=22&SubSectionID=45&ArticleID=285&TM=59106.15

Rep. Mark Kennedy, a Republican on the committee from Minnesota has said, "It's irresponsible to spend $27 million on bike paths when we have families stuck in traffic all over the metro area and many unsafe rural roads," said Kennedy. "It's time for Washington to set and stick to some spending priorities."

[bhans]

6. Hope some of the money is for the old Cedar Ave. Bridge!

It's been far too long for us bikers, runners and walkers to be denied an easy access route across the river between Bloomington and Eagan, Burnsville and Apple Valley!