Trail Grants Announced

Save Bicycle Trail Dollars in Illinois!

In each of the last two years, the state was forced to return some of its federal transportation dollars. Instead of "sharing the pain" with proportional cuts across all categories, IDOT decided to raid bike and trail funds in an overwhelming way. And it could happen again in April!

Historically, half of Transportation Enhancements dollars and a tenth of CMAQ ("see-mac") go to trails and other bike-related projects. (See a partial list at http://www.bikelib.org/tbills/bikeways_funded_istea_98.htm). Last year alone, 46% of Transportation Enhancements dollars (nearly $12M) and 23% of CMAQ dollars ($19M) were sent back, while only 4.5% of all other funding was returned. This is blatantly unfair and against the intent of federal legislation.

The "rescission" criteria used by IDOT dooms our bike dollars because of how these programs are structured. Join us in demanding that the state correct this situation in April and in future years.

LIB urges all cyclists to call, fax, or e-mail:

IDOT Secretary Tim Martin, phone 217-782-2616, fax 217-782-6828, http://www.dot.state.il.us/Email/Email.asp?from=1.

Governor Rod Blagojevich, phone 217-782-0244, fax 217-524-4049, http://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactthegovernor.cfm.

Include the message that you're a bicyclist and that "IDOT has unfairly given too much Enhancements and CMAQ money back to the feds the past two years. Please make sure the April and all future rescissions are proportional to authorized, NOT unobligated funds."

Further details are at http://www.bikelib.org/political_state/rescissions06.pdf.