Support for bike/ped trails dominates Metro process
Posted by: MichelleDec 11 2008, 5:36 pm
For the last two months we've been asking you to let Metro know if you support more funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects in this region, and to tell them which projects in particular you want to see.
Well, you sure responded! Comments in support of bike and ped projects dominated in the recent Regional Flexible Fund (RFF) process. Thank you for your help!
Of the 797 comments received, 553 of them (about 69%) were in support of bike, pedestrian and trail projects.
The individual projects that received the most support were overwhelming active transportation projects: the Willamette Greenway Trail (with 214 in support), the NE/SE Twenties Bikeways (with 124 in support), the Red Electric Trail (with 50 in support), and the 40 Mile Loop (with 31 in support).
(The report on comments is not yet available online. When it is, we'll post a link to it here. You can read descriptions of all the projects in this report [4.4 MB pdf]. You can also read the BTA's formal comments here [140 KB pdf].)
While the RFF process is not solely a popularity contest, the overwhelming popular support demonstrated for trails and other bike/ped projects should make it clear to everyone that active transportation is what this region's residents want most.
In the next step of this process to allocate the $21.65 million on the table, the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) will weigh Metro staff recommendations and public comments (along with other considerations like geographic fairness, projects' abilities to find funding elsewhere, and their own values and priorities) to select the final set of projects for funding with the $21.65 million available.
Thanks, everyone, for helping us make the case to JPACT that active transportation is the most important investment we can make with these funds. If you want to get more involved, you can see if any of your elected representatives sit on JPACT, and send them an email letting them know how you'd like them to shape the RFF allocation.
