From: http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?id=58910
[Portland Oregon]
Transportation bill may contain funds for bicycle improvements
SALEM - The final piece of approval is expected Monday for Oregon's $2.5 billion transportation plan, which aims to shore up the state's bridges, highways and ... bike paths?
Yes, bike paths: A law dating from the era of Gov. Tom McCall requires the state to devote at least 1 percent of all highway money to bicycle and pedestrian projects.
Lawmakers say they didn't consider Oregon's unique 1971 "bicycle bill" when they developed the plan to nearly double vehicle registration and title fees to provide the seed money for the 10-year financing package. The new fees, including an increase in the one paid by truckers, would go into effect in January, and the state plans to borrow $2.5 billion, using the higher fees to pay off the bonds.
Now though, the bill appears headed for approval in the Senate, which will consider it Monday, and will certainly be signed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who has ranked it as one of his highest priorities.
That's left bicycle groups and state transportation officials looking at the implications for projects that benefit two-wheeled and foot transportation as well as cars and trucks.
"For us, the question is: How do we ensure communities and the state are following the rules?" said Scott Bricker, who lobbies the Legislature for the Portland-based Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
It's tough to sort out just how much of the new money would be subject to the 1 percent diversion.
"I don't believe it's 1 percent of the (bonded) total," said Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro, vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Starr, who wouldn't mind if the bicycle bill is repealed someday, said he thinks - and hopes - it applies only to the $115 million the fee increases would raise.
A transportation spokesman said his understanding is that the 1 percent would apply to $1.3 billion - the amount earmarked to repair state bridges. Others say the bicycle bill is broad enough to cover the entire $2.5 billion.
The three-decade-old law isn't all that clear on the subject.
It states plainly that the state must spend at least 1 percent of its highway fund on bicycle and pedestrian projects, but it doesn't create a fund to do so.
The law also requires the state to put in bike lanes and sidewalks whenever it builds or reconstructs a highway or bridge. That often costs far more than 1 percent of a transportation project.
The law makes exceptions, though, for bridges and roads in rural areas or along interstate freeways, which few cyclists or pedestrians use. If the state spends a sizable chunk of the new money on those kinds of projects, the result could be more money available for bike and pedestrian projects elsewhere.
_______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
