Seems that statewide transportation organizing is a hot topic. 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania along with Pennsylvanians for Transportation Solutions are working on building a broad Transportation Coalition.

10,000 Friends is building a statewide coalition of housing, environmental, economic development and health advocates who understand the importance of changing our transportation priorities.  The purpose of the coalition will be to advocate for changes in state and federal transportation funding which will: adequately fund mass transit and transportation alternatives; empower regions to make funding decisions best for their economies and environments; prioritize infrastructure repair and maintenance; catalyze growth and revitalization in core communities; and link land use and climate goals to transportation planning.

        We plan to encourage coalition members to work closely at the federal level with t4America on securing these objectives in the federal reauthorization of the transportation bill.  On the state level, we will build state and regional advocacy networks to make sure we have a funding package which supports the findings of the transportation funding and reform commission report issued in 2006. 

A work session with key stakeholders in Southeastern PA  took place yesterday in Philadelphia. Transit, Complete Streets and Local Transportation funding sources were discussed. 10,000 Friends will be holding similar work sessions throughout the state.

PA Bikes and Walks members will be part of the organizing process. Look for more details on this exciting new initiative in the coming months.

The current markup of the $835 Billion Economic Recovery Package that came out  House Appropriations Committee allots 1.3 billion dollars for for Transportation Enhancements Project. Several sources that analyzed the allocation estimate that $58 Million will go to Pennsylvania.

Transportation Enhancments represent the bulk of funds for stand alone trail and streetscape projects although there are other uses for this money such as highway beautification. Since construction has to begin in 4 to 6 months this money would probably be used for projects that are already slated to begin construction. This would put money back into the pipeline to fund to other Enhancements projects that are not “shovel ready”.

This bill could be marked up many times before it becomes law, stay tuned.

Sprawl to a Crawl on 422

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20090118_Sprawl_to_crawl_on_Route_422.html

 Josh Karns has invited me to join him at this upcoming meeting about transportation planning along Route 422.  Take a look at the article and then mark your calendars.  There are better choices — because there is no real evidence that wider highways = less congestion.  In fact — it often seems that the more lanes we pave, the more (parked) cars we can fit in a mile of highway. 

422 Master Plan Meetings

Tuesday, Feb. 17

6:30 to 9 p.m.

Oaks Elementary School Cafeteria

Oaks School Drive

Oaks, Pa. 19456

Snow date: Feb. 24

Wednesday, Feb. 18

6:30 to 9 p.m.

Montgomery County Community College

Pottstown Campus, Community Room

101 College Dr.

Pottstown, Pa. 19464

Snow date: Feb. 26

YOUR WAY ON THE HIGHWAY

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Centre Daily Times - WHITEHALL ROAD Bicycling polarizes meeting attendees

Ferguson Township weighs wider road, two bike lanes

Read the article and then the comments. You would think that they were tearing up the road and putting in the Hoover Dam. It’s just bike lanes, you know 5 foot’ shoulders with little stencil markings.

You know I  must a have been to a dozen public meetings where the opposition has used the following tactics.

1 - Divide and conquer. Pretend that there are two different species of bicyclists - commuters and recreational riders. This traps some bicyclists into pitting themselves against each other. As you can see in the comments this is a brilliant NIMBY tactic.

 2-Equating bicycling with higher taxes as if this minor widening has any impact.

3- All bicyclists are scofflaws and are therefore second class citizens. Read the Myth of the Scofflaw Bicyclist on the WashCycle Blog to prepare your response.

To make things worse the Township Manager advised the Centre Area Bicycle Coalition to stay away from the meeting to avoid confrontation.  My advice to the CABC - don’t listen to Township Managers when it comes to public meetings.

Newspaper reports of PENNDOT’s “Shovel Ready” list of projects offer no mention of bicycle and pedestrian projects. Tthat is a great indicator of the weak political position of bicycle and pedestrian advocates in the state. But we are not alone - only 2 states that have publicly posted their lists (Vermont and Maine) are asking for more than 1% of their funding allocation go to bicycle and pedestrian projects.

 Former Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Michael Ronkin had a great suggestion - dedicate money for sidewalks as translated on the Naked City Blog

You have heard from many about repairing bridges and highways. You have been receiving many ’shovel-ready’ wish lists of projects. Big highway projects are rarely shovel-ready; there will always be legitimate environmental and political hurdles to overcome, requiring robust public debate.

However, there are many small-scale projects that require little or no red tape, provide tremendous benefit/cost, and create the greatest number of local jobs per dollar spent: sidewalk repair, infill and construction, and bringing existing sidewalks up to ADA compliance. Sidewalk projects provide many economic benefits for communities large and small:

* Most of the sidewalk cost is labor (60-80%);

* The labor force is usually local; the bulk of the materials (sand and

gravel) can be found locally too;

* The wages are living wages, but not too high for financially strapped communities;

* The minimal amount of design needed can be done in-house or by small local engineering firms. * Local small contractors can perform the work;

* This provides work for small contractors hurt by the housing downturn, as they are doing less small concrete work for house foundations, driveways etc.;

* These are opportunities to make good use of existing incentive programs such as Emerging Small Businesses, Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, Minority-Owned Businesses;

* But most important are the positive results for the community:

* Sidewalks improve property values, make it easier to walk for short local trips, reduce municipal liability for trip and fall injuries, and help make the transportation system accessible to all pedestrians, including those the Americans with Disabilities Act was intended to help bring into the mainstream.

The backlog of sidewalk infill and repair is huge in most cities. When I worked as Pedestrian and Bicycle Program Manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation, I managed a small grant program (approximately $3,000,000/year statewide) that funded sidewalk infill projects. Every year we had to turn away many worthy applicants, as the requests exceeded available funds at a 5:1 ratio.