Advocacy Alerts

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Advocacy:

Paseo Bridge Bike/Ped Access: MoDOT is building a new quarter billion dollar bridge in the heart of Kansas City. It could provide the first safe bicycle/pedestrian crossing of the Missouri River near downtown Kansas City. We've been working on this for years and now it's going to move or die forever in the next month or so.

Advocacy:

Hwy 45 Bike/Ped Access: MoDOT is building a new highway through Parkville, Missouri. Guess what--their plans for accommodating bicycling and walking are inadequate, plus they forgot to include any funding for them.

Advocacy:

Bicycling License Plate: Many other states have 'Share the Road with Bicycles' license plates. Why not Missouri, too? In 1 minute you can show your support.

Executive Summary
We get a heck of lot of federal money from TEA21 Enhancements that funds an awful lot of interesting bike/ped projects around Missouri--474 total projects (not all bike/ped) and $115 million in federal funds over the past 10 years.

The reauthorization of TEA21 is coming up in the next congressional session. If you want the new TEA-3 legislation to continue to fund

• these kinds of Enhancement projects, which often focus on
  bike trails, sidewalks, and the like, *and*
  
• Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) projects, which
  are often focused on bike transportation issues, *and*
  
• the general push to integrate bike and pedestrian planning
  in all road design, which has been an essential part of
  both ISTEA and TEA-21,

then you'd better be on the phone, mail, and email with your congressman and senators *repeatedly* over the next year, to let your voice be heard, and to let your representatives know that you support the re-authorization of TEA-21, and that you specifically and especially support the bicycle and pedestrian elements.

In particular, be sure to write and call Senator Kit Bond, as he holds a key transportation committee chair position.

You can find the contact info for all your federal officials on our Resources Page.


Please also consider joining and supporting AmericaBikes.org. AmericaBikes is leading the nationwide advocacy effort for bicycle transportation funding in the TEA-21 re-authorization.

Enhancements Summary, 1992-2002, State of Missouri
Source: http://www.enhancements.org/perm.html

This summary includes "Enhancements" only. It does not include projects funded under CMAQ (Congestion Management/Air Quality), which is also part of TEA21 but a different pot of money. Bike/ped projects get funding in other ways, too, besides Enhancements and CMAQ, and those projects are not listed here.

(In fact, according to TEA-21, bicycle and pedestrian accommodation is supposed to be part of every funded road project, except for roads where bikes/peds are not allowed access--but in practice this often doesn't happen.)

With those caveats, here is the data for Missouri Enhancements, 1992-2002:

Total number of projects: 474
Federal funds: $115 million
Local funds: $56 million
Total funds: $172 million


Statewide breakdown of projects by type
The Twelve Transportation Enhancement Activities Are:

Number, Name
285, Bicycle and pedestrian facilities
0, Bicycle and pedestrian education and safety
3, Scenic and historic acquisitions
12, Scenic and historic highway programs and welcome centers
88, Landscaping and scenic beautification
10, Historic preservation
38, Preservation of historic transportation facilities
31, Rail corridor preservation and trail development
3, Billboard removal
0, Archaeological planning and research
2, Highway runoff mitigation and wildlife crossings
2, Transportation museums

Statewide highlights for Missouri
Katy Trail--including many phases and associated projects
Trolley Track Trail (KC)
Riverfront trails in Hannibal, Cape Girardeau, St. Joseph, St. Louis, and Kansas City areas
Indian Creek Trail (KC area) and many other greenway projects around the state
Many sidewalk projects around the state
Several highway/freeway landscaping & beautification projects around the state

Related:

News: House clears six-year TEA-21 renewal bill

News: TEA-21 extension passed; more waiting until final bill

permanent link to article: "TEA-21 Enhancements in Missouri, 1992-2002"
posted by Brent Hugh at 1/11/2003 10:35:00 PM |comment on this article