FLCC> IMPORTANT - at the Common Council meeting this Wednesday (5/7/08) the fate of the Bike Plan funding will be determined

[Kent Johnson]

Hello -

IMPORTANT - at the City of Ithaca Common Council meeting this Wednesday (5/7/08 at 7:00 PM in City Hall) the fate of the Bike Plan funding will be determined. 

Here is a brief synopsis of what is going on: 
A decade ago, a $100,000 ($80,000 federal funds, $20,000 City funds) project (Capital Project #325) was created to be used to create the Bike Plan document and then implement measures recommended in the Bike Plan. The Bike Plan document cost $20,000 ($16,000 federal funds, $4,000 City funds) - so $80,000 ($64K fed., $16K City) remained. The federal government has now canceled their part of the funding, due largely to the slow progress in implementation. At the last City Administration committee meeting (on 4/30/08), there was discussion on the topic of whether the City should make up for the rescinded federal funds with City funds (thus, the remaining $80,000 project would be fully funded by the City). In the end, the CA committee decided in a 3-1 vote to fund the project at $50,000. This is less (obviously) than $80,000 but it is $34,000 MORE than the City originally planned on spending as part of this project. So, THIS IS GOOD NEWS. The Common Council will decide this Wednesday whether to accept the CA committee's recommendation, or not. I anticipate that Common Council WILL vote in favor of the CA committee's recommendation - but it is possible that they may not.   

The $50,000 (if approved) should be enough to implement both the uphill bike lane on E. State St. and the Sharrow markings on Cayuga St. - hopefully this summer!

What you can do:
Here is what you can do - during the 3-minute comment period at the beginning of the CC meeting, you could speak in favor of the CA committee's recommendation and praise CC members for their financial commitment (which is VERY substantial - especially considering the City's financial situation) to implementing measures that encourage cycling and increase bicyclists' safety. If anyone is interested in getting involved in this, we should probably meet to discuss this (perhaps right before the CC meeting - so we could meet at 6:30 PM in City Hall in room 203). I'd rather not go back and forth using email because it takes a long time and it is difficult to discuss the nuances involved in this topic. 

Finally, one of the concerns of CC members with spending this money is that too few people would benefit since bicyclists constitute a small minority of roadway users - so it is important for CC members to see that there really IS a large constituency of cyclists out there. So, it would be good for anyone interested in bicycling to show up in support, write letters to their CC rep., etc.

This will be an important moment!

Please call me at 327-0316 if you have any questions.

Take care,
Kent




Kent Johnson
Transportation Engineering Technician
Office of the City Engineer
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, New York 14850
(607) 274-6528, (607) 327-0316 (cell)
kjohnson at cityofithaca.org