There’s been a huge flurry of news stories on the next transportation bill during the past couple weeks.

In summary, while Congressman James Oberstar introduced a new transportation bill, the White House announced they wanted to simply extend the existing transportation bill for 18 months. And today Senate leader voiced their support for an extension.

This situation is best summarized by this Infrastructurist article: Transportation Bill Is Dead As A Doornail For 2009 Because Nobody Can Figure Out How To Pay For It

But even the current transportation fund is in the red and may require an additional $20 billion to get through an 18 month extension.

In this economy, no one wants to raise gas taxes. Also, waiting 18 months means the gas tax issue could be dealt with conveniently after the 2010 elections.

What does this mean for cyclists?

We’re good either way. While some of the features in Oberstar’s transportation bill are very welcomed, it’s likely they may also appear in the future transportation bill. That is unless the 2010 elections change the balance of power in Congress.

The first round of Metro Detroit’s transportation stimulus checks are in the mail and some are for major bike projects.

This funding is mostly from 3% transportation enhancements sub-allocation, which is $25.4 million for all of Michigan.

I-275 Bike Path (MDOT)

The original $10 million request to recontruct the bike path was reduced to two requests. The first is for $4 million. The second is for $5 million and will only be available if Michigan can recover unused road funds from other states.

Clinton River Trail Bridge (Pontiac)

This bridge at Telegraph and Orchard Lake Road has been long awaited. It will connect the two developed rail-trail segments on both sides of Telegraph. The funding amount is $2.1 million.

Midtown Loop (Detroit)

This $2.3 million in funding is going towards Phase I of the Midtown Loop, a 2-mile walking and (casual) biking loop through Wayne State and cultural center. It’s expected that this stimulus money will push previously secured funding into the second phase and possibly help fund the connector between this project and the Dequindre Cut.

Streetscaping

These projects are aimed at making a road more pedestrian and bicyclist friendly. For example, the Woodward project includes “sidewalks, tree planting, street lights, trash receptacles, bike racks.”

• Woodward in Detroit between I-94 and Euclid (MDOT)
• Monroe and Brush Streets in Greektown, Detroit
• Michigan Avenue in Detroit between Cass and Woodward
• Shelby Street in Detroit between State and Griswold

Transit-Related Projects

Both DDOT and SMART are receiving funds to improve/build bus shelters and related amenities. We’ll contact both to determine whether these projects include bike racks. DDOT has been pursuing bike racks for their bus shelters as well as their buses.

Other Detroit Road Work

We checked and none of MDOT’s Detroit stimulus road work coincides with the city’s non-motorized plan. However MDOT is replacing some bridge decks over I-96 which may coincide with the plan.

Wayne County is receiving funds to reconstruct sections of 7 Mile and Fenkel Roads. Both should have bike lanes. We will contact both Wayne County and the city officials to make sure this is known.

The city of Detroit is receiving over $14.4 million for major street repair. Once we learn which roads those involve we’ll cross check them with the non-motorized plan to see if they are scheduled for bike lanes.

This should clearly show the value of having non-motorized plans in place for cities.

All of MDOT’s Metro Region stimulus projects are available on-line. SEMCOG also has a list of all accepted project requests within their seven-county area.

Today was the joint Senate-House hearing for legislation to better fund Michigan State Parks.

I did some live blogging during the hearing which is on the OurMichiganParks web site.

Nancy Krupiarz, the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance executive director joined me as seen in the photo to the right. Senator Patti Birkholz, one of the chairs of the meeting and long time supporter of Michigan State parks liked my neon green bike pin, a la Congressman Earl Blumenauer.

Unfortunately given the very large turnout to the hearing, we ran out of time before Nancy or I could speak. We did submit our written comments and will likely try again at future hearings on this critical legislation.

This morning I expect to speak before a joint House and Senate committee hearing for a series of bills that improve funding for our Michigan state parks.

The above link provides information on how you can voice your support for this new funding proposal.

Here is my testimony —

Good Morning. My name is Todd Scott. I am a member of the Citizen’s Committee for Michigan State Parks and the Detroit Greenways Coordinator for the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance.

My job is to advocate for and support a citywide trail network that provides great recreational opportunities for all Metro Detroiters as well as tourists.

We envision a trail network that allows folks to bike or walk to great destinations like Tri-Centennial State Park on the Detroit River.

However, the current state park funding model based on user fees doesn’t support parks like Tri-Centennial. All of its visitors will enter the park on foot, bike, or by boat – not by car. These visitors won’t need to buy motor vehicle passes nor will the park generate funds through camping fees.

And as we continue building trails that connect Michigan communities to our state parks, fewer motor vehicle passes will be sold and DNR park revenue will continue to suffer.

The proposed change in the state park funding addresses this issue.

It will allow great parks like Tri-Centennial to flourish.

I hope you consider supporting the bills brought before the committees this morning.

Thank you.

The Oakland Press published an editorial last week about Michigan’s state parks and a new funding proposal:

No one will debate the need to maintain our parks and make them accessible to residents and tourists.

But is a fee increase really the best way to do it?

We don’t think so.

If you don’t like this optional fee, what’s your solution, Oakland Press?

They have none.

We submitted the following rebuttal last Thursday, which does not appear in their on-line edition:

The recent Oakland Press editorial regarding a state park funding proposal missed the mark.

This proposal does not penalize those who do not use our state parks and state forest recreation sites. Those residents can simply opt-out and not pay the $10 fee.

And there is no reason to hide this fee. Michigan residents have a strong tradition of supporting their state parks and natural resources. This proposal trusts that many residents will opt to pay a $10 fee to ensure this heritage is preserved for this generation as well as those that follow. There’s no reason to hide this support.

And it should be noted that since 2004 none of our taxpayer dollars go towards our state parks.

But beyond funding, this proposal greatly reduces the DNR’s need to staff toll booths. Rather than be cashiers, state park staff can actually accomplish work within the park and provide interpretive programming for park visitors.

And finally, it is imperative that we keep and maintain our state parks and forest recreation areas if we have any hope of growing tourism to help rebuild our state economy. Most states cannot compete with our bountiful natural resources. It’s time we take advantage of that.

To learn more about the optional fee proposal for funding Michigan State Parks, visit the new web site, www.OurMichiganParks.org.