Bikies,
As you heard, today is bike lobby day.
I did my part and called both my State Senator, Mark Miller (I spoke
to an aide) and my Assembly Rep. Joe Parisi. I got to speak to Rep.
Parisi (himself) at length. Though I have expressed frustration at
not having any concrete commitment from either of them, Joe stated in
this conversation that he is committed to working diligently at
establishing a dedicated source of ped/bike funding that no one will
mess with. He is very junior, and in the minority party of the
assembly, but he wanted to express that he is working hard through
whatever connections he has to make the bike funding thing a reality.
I know that at least three people also had a good conversation with
him in person today. I think we are making progress.
I know that certain among us have had a problem with his positions on
other things, but I'm willing to support his efforts to see what
comes of it (cut me some slack, Tim!).
Now if I can just get to Senator Miller himself. I'm tired of getting
the run around at his office.....The staffers think they can shield
him from me, but they don't know about him hanging out on the Terrace
with the Friday Night Bike Gang when the weather gets nice!
Below is my follow-up email to Rep. Parisi. You've seen the 5 point
plan before but I've kind of modified it to fit his situation....
I hope more people called or will call their reps to further
reinforce the importance of ped/bike funding.
-Mike
*****************************************************
Hi Joe,
Thanks for patiently hearing me out on the bike funding issues. And
thanks for being understanding about the source of our
frustration--the 2 decade long fight to get a decent level of funding.
Below is my 5 point plan for bike funding. It is huge from the
perspective of what has gone before, and especially in terms of the
impact for bicycling statewide. But it is quite modest in the big
financial picture. When it is all said & done, we are talking about
0.3% of the total transportation budget (the current amount is a
measly 0.15 - 0.2%). Given that something on the order of 4% of all
adult Wisconsinites bike or walk to work, 0.3% is a *very* modest
request.
The problem I'm foreseeing is this: When you contact WisDOT, they
will give you a song & dance about why they are completely within
their rights to steal (yeah, steal) ped/bike funds for wider
highways. I've read their song & dance and they are wrong. It is
clear that they don't even understand what they are writing (it was
likely fed to them from the roadbuilders). To get the straight scoop,
please also contact the DNR's State Trails Coordinator, Briget Brown
([EMAIL PROTECTED]; 608-266-2183). She has the actual,
legal documentation on how the Transportation Enhancements (ped/bike)
money should be spent. I guess the main point is, the separate pot of
money you are looking for already exists in the form of
Transportation Enhancements; the problem is, it is being abused.
Please trust Brigit on this.
My five point plan to institutionalize ped/bike funding statewide:
1. A *minimum* of 10% of STP funds to go to Local Transportation
Enhancements and *spent* in full, every year. In dollar terms that
would currently be about $18m annually, plus the amortized value of
item 2.
2. Repayment into the Enhancements program, over the next 4 years, of
all Enhancements monies "borrowed" over the last 15 years for highway
purposes, including monies already spent on paved shoulders & highway
beautification (see Item 4), and including Enhancements monies
surrendered as "special dispensation" (i.e., federal permission for
WisDOT to steal Enhancements money for highways). This amounts to
some $182m plus interest (they took it, they pay for the time!). The
sum would be spent *in addition to* the amount spent in Item 1.
3. DOT must cease penalizing Transportation Enhancements for state
level and federal level bike/ped earmarks. They are taking those
dollars off of the top of the Enhancements program. This is a slap in
the face of every representative who has brought a good ped or bike
project to their district! Let's say, for example, you are successful
in bringing the state trail between Cottage Grove and Madison to
fruition with monies outside of the normal transportation budgeting
process. WisDOT will turn around and penalize your constituents (and
you, our rep) by taking away Enhancements in an amount equal to that
earmark. They don't do this when a highway is delivered as pork,
however. The insult and the double standard must end.
4. A Transportation Enhancements project must be defined, for the
most part, as dedicated bicycle and pedestrian rights-of-way with a
transportation purpose. That is to say, paved shoulders and shrubbery
(or other beautification) should no longer count toward the 10% of
STP for Enhancements.
5. No more than 10% of Transportation Enhancements should be meted
out for earmarks for other than bike & ped-specific funding (museums,
tourist info centers & such).
Thanks again for your help on this, and I will get the word out to
the bikies that you are working hard on this.
Sincerely,
Michael D. Barrett
2137 Sommers Ave.
Madison WI 53704
(608)245-1059
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