Should biking advocates be angry that Senator Tom Coburn included two bike paths in his latest list of stimulus "waste?" Or thrilled that the Senator singled them out?
As reported by The Washington Times, Coburn said, "When we run $1.4 trillion deficits, the money we spend ought to be a high priority for the American people as a whole."
What he really means is that, because he doesn't get bikes, no one else does either.
His report calls-out an extension of Minnesota's Cedar Lake Bike Trail that would allow people to commute to and from downtown Minneapolis all the way to the new Minnesota Twins stadium. It's a project supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I guess a better bike connection to Minneapolis's central business district doesn't count as infrastructure to some folks.
And he calls-out the Meridian Bridge conversion to bike and pedestrian use. A newer bridge now carries automobile traffic over the Missouri River between Yankton, SD, and Nebraska. Hmm...demolish Yankton's signature landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Or use Recovery Act money to connect an extensive network of trails on the Nebraska side with a similarly extensive network of trails on the South Dakota side?
As Liz Oxhorn, a spokeswoman for Vice President Biden put it:
"The real question here is whether Recovery Act critics will at long last acknowledge that well over 99 percent of the projects are sound, effective and working as promised."
I couldn't agree more. We've worked hard this year to get our Recovery Act dollars out to the states quickly and effectively. Yes, some of those projects include bike paths, a key ingredient in our livability initiative to allow people to live, work, and get around without a car.
We don't call that waste; we call it progress.
Now I can bike to my favorite DT restaurants with the new bike connection.
Posted by: Restaurant Connection | July 11, 2010 at 03:06 PM
Sen. Coburn and his constituents might have the luxury of the care and feeding of multiple cars but we do not.
Posted by: jewelry reviews | July 30, 2010 at 05:10 AM
Congratulations for standing up to this misinformed Senator. Keep up the good work! Together we can make our world a greener, more environmentally sustainable place for the many generations to come!
Posted by: Fx News | January 06, 2011 at 01:16 PM
Bikes, exactly, they waste so much... so much... time! (end sarcasm).
And we wonder where this deficit came from.
Posted by: auto traffic | January 19, 2011 at 10:52 PM
Thank you for supporting this infrastructure.
One surprise benefit of investing more street space and money to these alternatives is that there is less congestion overall and people are able to move quicker and more efficiently in ways which are more satisfying than being stuck in a car in traffic.
Posted by: Luis | reparacion ordenadores pozuelo | March 05, 2011 at 05:46 PM
Biking is great but not for everyone, indeed. I doubt that I shall ever see, one special handsome RR inspector from the DOT peddling his way early in the morn, when high speed rail is about to be born.
Merry Christmas to the great FRA RR safety inspectors who make the rails safer every single day.
Have a safe 2010.
Posted by: Dianna Lango | May 12, 2011 at 05:59 AM
While Senator Tom Coburn termed bike paths "waste" I find federal grants given to cities actually are be wasted. In fact, as a flaming Liberal (not a demo/dixiecrat) from Minnesota he strikes a strong cord with me.
My home is Minneapolis Minnesota which is also the recipient of the The Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) in 2007. During these years the City of Minneapolis chose not to have their budget audited by the State Board of Estimate. Actually the city proposed to have audits done in-house, in which the city failed to properly staff the audit department also failed to release a full audit since it made this change.
Unfortunately it coincided with the recession, cuts to LGA and major city budget deficits, therefore we as Minneapolis citizens don't have quantifiable evidence that the NTPP grant has results. http://tinyurl.com/66gxpuj There has been other articles in regards to this issue, but they are offline!
Change in public appreciation for working, accountable government matches the change in our social demographics: http://alturl.com/sem62 Essentially a socially regressive curtailment of equality, produces a "See no evil, Deny doing evil, Hear no evil" has created a environment in which the City of Minneapolis could easily reallocate the NNTP funds to balance their budget much like how Gov. T-Paw had done with countless of funds which lead to a lawsuit against the state.
http://tinyurl.com/6xohwqt Shows exactly the disregard amongst avid cyclists towards equality within the cycling community. Let alone they are not concerned with "waste" of federal grants that were meant to increase equal access and equal safety of cyclists on our roadways. As the social fabric of my hometown changes, I find republicans make very incredible responsible and truthful insights of just how irresponsible my society and its dixiecrat government has become.
Posted by: Amy | May 18, 2011 at 04:14 PM