It’s happening again. Just
one month ago, Sen. Coburn (R-OK) failed in his efforts to strip funding
for Transportation Enhancements from the six-month transportation
extension. Senator Rand Paul’s 80-year
Bridge Repair Plan Now, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is
taking the lead in trying to destroy Transportation Enhancements. On
November 1, the Senate will finalize the transportation appropriations
bill, which sets funding levels for FY2012. Sen. Paul has offered an
amendment to redirect all funding for Transportation Enhancements to bridge
repair. We agree on the need to keep our bridges safe, but
the lives of pedestrians and cyclists are important too. Thirteen people
died when the Minneapolis bridge collapsed in 2007: since then, close to
20,000 pedestrians and 2,800 cyclists have died on our nation’s
highways, largely as a result of poor highway design and a lack of safe
non-motorized infrastructure – exactly what the enhancement program
was created to fix. If Sen. Paul’s amendment
is successful, it would eliminate approximately $700 million in federal
funding for FY2012 that is used to construct sidewalks, bike lanes, bike
paths, trails and other infrastructure that makes it safe for bicyclists
and pedestrians to get around. Even if every penny of these funds is
diverted to bridge repairs, Senator Paul’s
plan will still take 80 years to fix the backlog of bridge repairs we
have today. Remember that the TE program represents less
than two percent of the Federal transportation program and these projects
help alleviate traffic congestion, improve safety, get people active, and
create more jobs per dollar than highway-only
projects. Remember also that last year, states sent back
to Washington $530 million of unspent bridge funds in rescissions –
the states are leaving bridge repair funds on the table, unspent, year
after year; they should at least spend these funds
first. If the Paul amendment succeeds, it will make it
much more challenging to sustain funding for Transportation Enhancements,
Safe Routes to School, and Recreational Trails in the long-term
transportation bill that the Environment and Public Works Committee starts
debating just 8 days later on November 9. We must
turn back any amendment to strip Transportation
Enhancements. Last month, more than
75,000 messages were sent to Senators to ask them to stand strong for
Transportation Enhancements. That was an amazing turnout, but we must do
better this time. Every time someone in Congress attacks bicycling
and walking, we must push back even stronger than we did the time
before. And, we will keep doing it until bicycle and pedestrian
funding is protected. This is the third time in a month
that a small group of Senators have targeted Transportation Enhancements,
using a different angle each time. It is a waste of the Senate's time
and taxpayers dollars to focus on this small and valuable program when we
are in dire need of real and viable solutions to fix our failing
transportation system. Please contact your
Senators today to ask them to vote against the Paul amendment (SA-821) to
eliminate Transportation Enhancements. And then please forward this
message to at least five others who care about the safety of people walking
and bicycling on our streets. Thank you for your
help today, and for passing the call to action
along. |