I just wanted to send a quick congratulations to the Michigan Recreation and Parks Association (MRPA) for hosting their first-ever trails conference on Tuesday in Traverse City. From what I saw and heard, it was a major sold-out success. I was especially pleased to see that the attendees included many trail stakeholders and experts who aren’t always directly involved with the MRPA.

One of the goals to come out of the conference was the need for supporting the DNR license plate fee proposal. Dr. Chuck Nelson delivered an great overview of the proposal and encouraged everyone to contact their legislators. This proposal needs grassroots support now more than ever.

MDOT recently announced their most recent Transporation Enhancement (TE) grants. TE money comes from the federal government and it requires a local matching from the grant recipient. TE grants are a major funding source for on-road and trail development.

In conjunction to the announcement, Governor Granholm added, “Michigan’s trails are gateways to recreation and tourism opportunities that grow our economy by attracting residents and visitors alike. Not only do they provide transportation and recreation options, but they make many areas of our state more livable and desirable places to do business.” (more…)

Bike paths not worthy of federal support, says transportation secretary | Salon News: “In an Aug. 15 appearance on PBS’s ‘NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,’ Peters spoke against a proposal to raise gas taxes to shore up the nation’s aging infrastructure. The real problem, the secretary argued, is that only 60 percent of the current money raised by gas taxes goes to highways and bridges. She conveniently neglected to mention that about 30 percent of the money goes to public transit. She then went on to blast congressional earmarks, which dedicate 10 percent of the gas tax to some 6,000 other projects around the country. ‘There are museums that are being built with that money, bike paths, trails, repairing lighthouses. Those are some of the kind of things that that money is being spent on, as opposed to our infrastructure,’ she said. The secretary added that projects like bike paths and trails ‘are really not transportation.’”

As you know, the state collects a fuel tax. That money gets divided among various groups, including counties, cities, and villages (but not townships.) Of this money, not less than 1% must be spent on non-motorized transportation. The City of Ferndale used their 1% to pay for their bike lanes, but not all communities spend their money that well.

One reason is the law considers the paving of gravel roads as a non-motorized project. This is where the Road Commission of Oakland County spends their 1%. They were surprised to hear that cyclists often prefer gravel roads.

In Lansing, HB 4555 was signed by the Governor yesterday. It removes the paving of gravel roads from the 1%, but allows the paving of shoulders. It also explicitly allows sidewalks in cities and villages, which the City of Royal Oak and others were already doing.

Another problem is MDOT doesn’t have the resources to audit this 1% requirement. Communities are required to submit 5-year programs, but there’s no enforcement or oversight.

I made the suggestion that the 1% expenditures be posted on the MDOT web site so cyclists can audit their local agencies. Unfortunately that did not make it into the bill, though it still could be done by either MDOT or a group like the League of Michigan Bicyclists (LMB). All the 1% expenditures are public, it’s just a matter of collecting them and making them readable.