Michigan Trails & Greenways Alliance

Thanks to thousands who have spoken up in support, the amendment to restore dedicated Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to Schools was introduced by Representatives Petri (R-WI), Johnson (R-IL), and Lipinski (D-IL).  However we are still hanging in the balance.  We have until 9 a.m. tomorrow to continue to make a difference.  We need to urge Congresswoman Candice Miller to support the amendment.  Please call her office at 202-225-2106 if you live in her district to ask for her support.  If you do not live in her district, contact your own US legislators to ask them to convince her to support it. Michigan, the #1 trail state, needs to be heard!

The House Transportation Bill to be taken up in the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee tomorrow removes dedicated funding for the Transportation Enhancements program and the Safe Routes to School program.  It also deletes the state nonmotorized transportation coordinator and the state safe routes to school coordinator positions formerly mandated by federal law.  And to top it all off, even though the funding for TE is left in the bill to be used for whatever transportation projects it may choose, motorized or otherwise, it eliminates eligibility of federal-aid funds to be used for rail-trails.  Now Michigan is a leader in rail-trail miles and has one of the most extensive trail systems in the nation, but we have a lot more work to do to connect our trails to each other and to destinations.  There are still rail corridors being abandoned every year, and these represent the best off-road corridors to be used for trails. There is an amendment pending in the House, the Petri/Johnson amendment, which would set the dedicated TE and SRTS programs back in place and restore eligibility for rail-trails.  However, it will not be introduced if there is not enough support.

If you are in Representative Candice Miller’s district, it is extremely crucial that you contact her to support the Petri/Johnson amendment.  She has been a strong supporter of rail-trails and other bike/walk improvements in the past and we hope that she stays true to that position by supporting the amendment.  The efforts and voices of trail advocates have always been successful in the past.  Let’s hope we are heard loud and clear this time around and that it will be enough to turn this around.  Thank you for whatever you can do.

The House releases its transportation bill, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. We expected the bill to be bad news for bicycling and walking, but we didn’t think it would go so far as to reverse all progress we have made in the past twenty years.

The House Transportation Committee will vote Thursday, February 2, on whether to approve this bill or amend it to include bicycling and walking programs. Take action now—tell your representative to restore bicycling and walking in the Transportation Committee.

Why the urgency? House leaders are exerting pressure to completely cut bicycling and walking out of transportation. Lawmakers seem to have gone through line-by-line to gut programs that make streets safer. Some of the more devastating provisions in the bill include:

• Destroys Transportation Enhancements by removing the dedicated funding;
• Repeals the Safe Routes to School program, leaving communities without basic tools and funding to protect kids on the trip to school;
• Allows states to build bridges without safe access for pedestrians and bicycles; and
• Eliminates bicycle and pedestrian and Safe Routes to School coordinators in state DOTs.

But there’s still a chance to save federal bicycling and walking funding. This week, Representative Petri (R-WI) plans to offer an amendment that restores dedicated funding for Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Rep. Petri can only be successful if you and everyone else with a stake in safe sidewalks, crosswalks and bikeways contact their Representatives today.

This is as urgent as it gets. If members of the Transportation Committee are going to stand up to House leadership by supporting biking and walking, they will need to know their constituents are behind them. Please contact Congress today and ask them to preserve dedicated funding for biking and walking.

Please pass this along to all your local contacts—particularly high-level contacts like mayors, school board members and business leaders—and ask them to weigh in too.  Thank you so much for your quick action, and we’ll keep you posted.

The Michigan Department of Transportation has awarded its latest round of transportation enhancement grants.  There were three trail projects awarded funding in this go-round.  They include:

• West Bloomfield Township will construct an approximately 2.5 mile extension to the existing West Bloomfield Trail from Arrowhead Rd. to Haggerty Rd.  Included in this $1.1 million project is trail surfacing, roadway crossings, benches, trash receptacles, and grading of trail shoulders.
• Thomas Township will receive $512,438 in federal funds to construct a 2.2 mile nonmotorized path, extending the Saginaw Valley Rail Trail to Shields Drive and connecting schools, libraries, and shopping centers.  Included in this $854,060 project will be $170,812 from MDOT for a nonmotorized crossing of M-46.
• Saginaw Township and Kochville Township are contributing $280,663 and receiving federal funds of $521,436 to develop a 2.5 mile trail along Consumer’s Energy right of way from Elmer Lange Park to the terminus of the Kochville Township Trail at McCarty Road. 

The Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail got great news last week. The trail received a $1.337M Transit-in-Parks grant! The funds will be used to construct the SBHT through the Lakeshore from Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive to Empire. $250,000 needs to be raised to provide the match for the design/engineering. So far, the 27-mile SBHT has received over $6M in public funding and nearly $1M in private funding. The first nearly 5 miles of trail from Glen Arbor to the Dune Climb will be constructed this spring and open this summer for everyone to enjoy. For information, including how to contribute to the SBHT effort, please contact Pam Darling (231.941.4300, pam [at] traversetrails [dot] org) or visit Sleeping Bear Trail website.