Bicyclists ponder election's effects on bike lane, program spending GOP won control of Assembly, Senate on cost-cutting platform, possibly endangering funding By Tom Held<mailto:[email protected]> of the Journal Sentinel Nov. 14, 2010 |(13) Comments<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/108059184.html?page=1> Following the sweeping changes in political leadership at the state and federal levels, cycling advocates are assessing the new challenge to maintain funding for bike lanes, education and other improvements for bikers and pedestrians. The conventional wisdom suggests the Republican takeover of the state Assembly and state Senate, based largely on a campaign of cost-cutting and lower taxes, will threaten to stop the flow of money to pay for Wisconsin bike trails and similar projects. State Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), who is likely to lead the Joint Finance Committee, all but confirmed it. "It was loud and clear during the election, the main priorities are to cut government spending and debt and create jobs," Darling said. "Bike paths are pretty far down the list for Republicans and Democrats." On the national level, the defeat of Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) is expected to hamper efforts to keep dollars going to states through the Transportation Enhancements and Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Program. In 2010, more than $1 billion in federal money was allocated to bicycle and pedestrian projects. Wisconsin receives nearly $9 million in federal money each year from those appropriations, and adds $2.5 million more in state dollars approved in the 2009-'11 budget. In addition, millions of dollars in federal grants from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program have been used for projects to improve biking and pedestrian options. Projects to improve the Hank Aaron State Trail, the Oak Leaf Trail, the Interurban Trail and the network of paths in Madison all have been supported with federal money in recent years. Dave Schlabowske, the bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the City of Milwaukee, speculated the change in leadership will bring a change in support for those types of enhancements. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) "has opposed using federal transportation funds on bicycle projects, which he likens to 'beautification' projects, not transportation projects," Schlabowske wrote in a blog post. "The next transportation bill could look very different from the last one in which bicycle and pedestrian funding was increased." State leadership At the state level, it's likely advocates will have to pedal harder to persuade Governor-elect Scott Walker and the Republican leadership to keep spending millions on bike paths and lanes and to follow through on the Complete Streets legislation approved in the last budget. That law requires accommodations for bicycles and pedestrians in road projects funded with state and federal money. In the past, Walker opposed a bike lane on the Hoan Bridge and took a moderate tone on bike infrastructure funded with federal cash. Projects to increase bicycling should appeal to both Republicans and Democrats, said John Burke, the president of Trek Bicycle Corp., based in Waterloo. It employs 1,000 people in Wisconsin and 1,700 globally. Along with other bicycle-based companies, including Planet Bike, Pacific and Saris, the industry accounts for nearly $600 million in annual economic impact in the state, according to a 2006 report from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. For the state economy, investments in cycling are cost-effective ways to improve transportation and reduce health care costs, Burke said. Those facts should be "bike-partisan," important to legislators on both sides of the aisle, he said. "I think politicians ought to look at increasing funding for cycling in the future," Burke said. "It's a simple solution and there aren't a lot of simple solutions these days." State Rep. Robin Vos (R-Burlington) agrees that financial support for bicycling and its related industry is good for the state's economy. As a potential leader of the Joint Finance Committee, however, he shared Darling's view that spending has to be prioritized. Fixing potholes, repairing bridges and ensuring that buses operate properly come before bike paths as necessary items for transportation dollars, he said.
Steve Meiers Safety educator (608) 267-1102 Box 2986 Madison WI 53701 [email protected]
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