Artkansas 

I'm sort of glad I don't live in Northwest Arkansas. Their Congressman wants to eliminate $15,000,000 funding for a 40 mile bike path, and eliminate $5,000,000 spent for Obama's teleprompters.

When pressed, he apparently couldn't name a source for the $5,000,000 figure for teleprompters and dropped that legislation, but I guess he's pressing ahead with keeping the NWA residents in their cars.

Kind of Catch-22. How can more people leave their cars, if there are no good bicycle facilities? And how can you fund bike paths if everyone is in their cars? Vision is the answer. I can only guess how much it would cost to make a 40 mile road or even to widen that road for bike lanes.

gerv 

Lack of vision? Yes..

But for a country that has now sunk to # 28 in rankings for mathematics and #22 for science and considering the reluctance to spend money on education, the pattern you describe is pretty typical.

And when you realize that this type of funding is being cut while defense spending seems to be largely unscathed...

I suspect the demise will be long and painful.

dcrowell

Just think of how much money could be saved by not building new roads, or even maintaining the old ones. How well would that go over?

Artkansas 

Fine. .... for a short while.

RunningPirate

You pegged it right there: I don't think the Congressman is really trying to get more people to leave their cars for bicycles...In fact, I'd reckon he'd more prefer to contrary...

Platy

I think there are a lot of people who sense their way of life is slipping away. They're angry and they're looking for someone to blame. Any talk about unsustainability or alternatives just makes them madder - they stick their fingers in their ears and start singing LA LA LA LA.

gerv 

Platy, just because some people are content to let things slide until we are in an absolute catastrophe... seems to me you hire elected officials to do the unpleasant things that are necessary to achieve longterm goals. At some point someone needs to point out that we really needs to make an adjustment in our way of life.

Contrary to Dick Cheney's famous remark, the American way of life needs to be negotiable.

Artkansas 

That's great for the Koch brothers, but I don't have enough money to hire elected officials.

Smallwheels

A long time ago I thought it would be great to be the president of the United States. Now I know better.

Isn't it interesting how we see others as short sighted or just plain stupid when it comes to transportation policy? The thing I wonder about is how such politicians can't see what we see. What do they believe will be happening in the future with energy availability? They have access to the same information we do.

I understand how people prefer the status quo in all aspects of their lives. I'm the same way. New things are scary just because they change the things that are familiar to us. Keeping things the same is safe or at least no more threatening because we're accustomed to it. Still, I'd love to be able to see the world through the eyes and perspective of a politician who votes against the things I support.

gerv 

I think I missed a verb there Should have said, " seems to me you elect officials to do the unpleasant things that are necessary to achieve longterm goals. "

In any case, that doesn't seem to be happening much, so maybe the Koch brothers know something I don't.

oban_kobi

I just have one question. Why does it cost 15 million dollars for a 40 mile bike path? My best guess is about 0.5 million for materials...so 14.5 million for labor then? Or is there a satellite being launched into orbit as well?

Artkansas 

Well, a satellite launch will run you 50-400 million, so this project is cheap.

I don't know how the price breaks down but I do know that the Big Dam Bridge bicycle pedestrian bridge in Little Rock was 12 million. The countryside in Northwest Arkansas is not flat, and is well forested, so I imagine that much of the cost is preparing the area, and I wouldn't be surprised if a number of bridges are involved as well.

oban_kobi

Depends on the size of the satellite, I believe it's typically $2,000 per pound being launched (could be wrong), and new technologies are bringing that down even lower. Anywho....

I suppose it could be rather time consuming to get the area ready, and bridges and such. Still seems a bit steep to me.

Artkansas 

Yeah, I can't find a cost breakdown for the project, so I can only guess.

Roody

But why would we expect elected officials to do anything that voters find unpleasant? They have to keep us happy if they want to get reelected.

Maybe we're asking too much of politicians. We might need some other group of people to convince citizens that they need to make changes that are unpleasant in the short term, but will pay off in the future. Who would provide this service? I really don't know who--journalists, educators, policy wonks, philosophers, religious leaders, scientists? All of the above?

Artkansas 

Not any more. The Citizens United decision took care of that. All they have to do is make us unhappy with the alternatives.

The last election showed how that is done.

Roody

The real citizens need to get united to defeat that fiasco of a decision. I don't think most conservatives, including Justices, understand how they're beng duped and turned ino pawns of the corporations.

gerv 

The self-deception applies to both sides of the aisle. We see this everywhere. Motorists who find themselves in densely congested traffic still complain about bike lanes, when an infusion of bicycle traffic would probably create less congestion. People who are penniless talk about the right to choose health care. Well-educated people talk about buying a Prius as a means of greening their lives. Conservatives support right-to-life initiatives, but cut spending on young children.

Pscyclepath

Last year, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission (NARPC) was awarded a $15 million federal grant to complete an 18-mile stretch of the "Razorback Regional Greenway," a 36-mile trail system which would connect bike paths in Bentonville, Rogers, Lowell, Springdale, Johnson and Fayetteville. Trail advocates and transportation officials were ecstatic. A project they thought might take up to 20 years to complete would now be finished in as little as four.

The Walton Family Foundation (the Waltons, as in "Wal*Mart," which is headquartered in Bentonville), a supporter of the project, had agreed to throw in the $3.75 million local match portion of the grant to complete the trail between Bentonville and Johnson, as well as up to $11.25 million in matching funds for the remainder of the trail.

The $15 million in federal funds was part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER II) program, an extension of the 2010 Appropriations Act which aimed at investing more in transportation infrastructure.

That was in 2010. Now, we're in 2011, and the TEA-Party Republicans have seized control of the U.S. House of Representatives, which controls appropriations. Arkansas changed out 4 of its 6 congressional members, including one senator and three representatives, for very-conservative Republicans. 3 of these 4 seats were previously held by Democrats.

The 2011 TIGER funds were awarded, but not delivered. Congress has not passed the 2011 budget yet, so none of the 2011 funds have been passed on to the Department of Transporation yet, and all departments are operating under a continuing resolution that expires on March 18. Under the continuing resolutions, agencies are funded at no more than the amount of funding they actually received in the 2010 budget. Republicans in Congress have attached an amendment to the 2011 budget bill that would eliminate funding for all the TIGER II projects, including the federal funds for the Razorback Greenway.

Steve Womack, representative for the 3rd District of Arkansas, which includes the proposed Greenway, is the former mayor of Rogers and has assumed his new Congressional duties with a firm intent to curb government spending. His intent is matched by his new companions in the Arkansas delegation, Rick Crawford of the 1st District and Tim Griffin of the 2nd, as well as new Senator John Boozman, also of Rogers. I've met with each of these folks on bike issues, and each has drawn a sharp line between funding bike facilities as an overall transportation system (for example, Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School), and anything that's for fun or recreation. For a sharp example, the Recreational Trails Program is in some definite jeopardy if for no other reason than that the program title has the word "receational" in it.

Womack knows the potential benefit that the Razorback Greenway would be bringing to his district, if for no other reason than the tourism dollars raked in by the Arkansas River Trail and Big Dam Bridge facilitiets, as well as the Womble and Syllamo epic MTB trails in adjacent districts. But he's voting his party line, and the party line says no federal dollars for frills.

The story's not over yet, but I would be surprised if those TIGER dollars get approved. We're working in a wholly new game for at least the next two years, and if you're looking for federal dollars for your project, you have to sing a whole new song when you're going after them. The past week's National Bike Summit really drove home that point to a lot of advocates.