Funding Street Repairs by getting Bike Lanes

How many cyclists, or city governments, are aware of this:

In 1991, Congress passed legislation that recognized the importance of bicycling and walking in creating a balanced transportation system. This law, the Intermodel Surface Transportation efficiency Act, was then translated by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1994 to define two specific goals: double the number of trips made by foot and bicycle and reduce the number of accidents involving bicyclists and pedestrians be 10 percent.

President Clinton signed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) in 1998, to continue the integration of bicycling into the transportation mainstream. The new legislation provided funding, planning and policy tools to implement the program nationwide.

In Sept. Bill Effinger, a marketing, management and forward planning consultant in Desert Hot Springs, Ca., wrote a column in the local paper encouraging street repair thru the creation of Bike Lanes.

In part, he wrote:

When a city is as strapped for continuing revenues as Desert Hot Springs is, and has roads in as poor condition as it does, bike lanes can help correct a bad situation.

Several years ago, the federal government enacted a piece of legislation to encourage bike usage as a means of reducing fuel consumption, the effect of which was to create funding for communities that construct bike lanes on their primary and secondary roads and streets.

Since that time, small and large communities with savvy leadership have seized upon the law to help improve, extend and maintain the roads within their cities, using the financial help the feds give them. Having just moved here from a community that has used the program extensively, I can attest to the benefits that city and its taxpayers have derived from the millions of dollars of federal government grants for bicycle lanes....

The result of this transposes into opportunities for communities large and small to receive grant funds from several sources, which can be used to improve roadways and streets within communities that provide bicycle paths and lanes.

With nearly 125 miles of streets and roads within Desert Hot Springs, there are millions of dollars of available federal and state funds for resurfacing, widening and building new streets, provided they contain bikeways.

Palm  Springs Desert Sun - 9/26: A positive idea: Get funds for street repairs by creating bike lanes.