Three comments:
#1 The potholes and debris that I complained to the City about last Friday were
fixed by my Monday morning commute. Yes, the patching (fresh is bumpy and old
is dipped) still makes for a rough ride and the whole situation there westbound
on University Ave still sucks...but I had to give kudos to the City for
patching and sweeping in such a timely manner. It definitely felt safer to me.
I encourage anyone who has a serious complaint to use the "Report a Problem"
http://www.cityofmadison.com/reportAProblem/ on the City website (instead of
just bitching about it amongst friends). Everytime that I've used it the
problem has been immediately addressed. They are trying.
#2 I've been asleep at the wheel these last few months (well, in truth, I'm
no longer AT the wheel), but apparently the Governor put STP-D funding back
into the state budget for 2009 at $2.72 million. This money helps fund
bike/ped projects and some transit. Though it would have been great to see back
in for both 2008 AND 2009...this is still great news. Advocates will want to
thank the Governor and work hard to keep the money in the state budget through
the remainder of the process...and maybe even try to get it added in for 2008
as well. Check out the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin website www.bfw.org for
how to get involved, or track down one of those pesky Bicycle Transportation
Alliance of Dane County folks (http://www.danenet.org/bcp2006/bta/)
This is a victory...and an indication that bicyclists' voices are being heard.
#3 I looked into the hoo-ha about the most recent federal funding rescissions
(the federal government is taking millions and millions of dollars back from
the states in transportation money and much of it is coming from programs that
fund bicycle/pedestrian programs, like Transportation Enhancements). This
SOUNDS really scary, but for now it is not something that is going to affect
what happens on the ground with bike/ped funding in Wisconsin. It may not make
any sense (transportation funding doesn't for the most part), but for the
moment this is mostly "on paper" money and not "real money". It is
bookkeeping...we aren't losing, not yet anyway, any "real" money. Other states
are getting screwed...but we got screwed long ago...so for now we're okay.
That is all.
-Dar
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