(Nov. 10 update: Jack Cochrane reports the T&E Committee decided today to recommend the bikeways maintenance budget be cut by 50% to $50,000. The full Council will vote on the recommendation next Tuesday.)
I posted last month on the proposal from County Executive Ike Leggett and Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) to cut bikeways maintenance by 100% at Roadways yes, Bikeways no. Now Jack Cochrane is emailing an alert for MoBike about action TOMORROW:
“Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is seeking to ELIMINATE funding for Bikeway Maintenance in Montgomery County as part of his budget Savings Plan. This Tuesday (11/10) the proposed cuts will come before County Council “T&E” Committee, and we need to make ourselves heard before then. Tell the committee TODAY to keep funding at the current level of $100,000. Inform them that maintenance of bikeways is critical to our safety. Bikeways include not just paths and bike lanes but also shoulders on many county roads. Maintenance includes sweeping away treacherous leaves and debris, trimming back brush and (for paths) removing snow. Tell the committee members that sweeping especially must be done more frequently. Be sure to relate your personal experiences that illustrate the need for more maintenance. Such stories can be compelling!”“Meanwhile the Executive is proposing only a tiny cut to road maintenance,reducing total road maintenance expense by less than 1%.”
The impact of this cut on Silver Spring trails will be especially severe. The Interim CCT to Bethesda will be left with no maintenance under this proposal. Trail users know how weeds crowd the trail if not cut, several erosion “hot spots” need regular attention, and there is always the threat of a downed tree blocking the trail entirely.
Jack is urging bikeways supporters to contact the County Executive and the Montgomery Council T&E Committee before the T&E Committee meeting this Tuesday. Send emails ASAP to the County Executive, ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov
or call him at (240) 777-2500.
More urgently you should also contact members of the T&E committee before they take this up at their meeting tomorrow:
Nancy Floreen, chair,
councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov
(240-777-7959)
George Leventhal,
councilmember.leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov
(240) 777-7811
Roger Berliner,
councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov
(240-777-7828).
Update: WABA has just issued an alert and opened an action page to make it easier to send email responses to the Council.
A proposal arising from MCDOT to zero bikeways funding is not new. I blogged over a year ago at You gotta draw the line…
about a similar effort by MCDOT to zero bikeways maintenance in the FY09 budget. This happens almost every year, regardless of the lip service we regularly get from local politicians about building a transportation infrastructure that better supports bicycling and walking. This will keep happening until someone or something breaks up the “car is king” culture that still controls MCDOT.
I’ll close with this reminder of how quickly things can go bad on a trail – this on the CCT in D.C., but it also happens on trails maintained by MCDOT:
Photo from a WashCycle blog post.
I can’t help believe that this is more of a cynical ploy than anything. I can’t quite figure out the angle, but if road maintenance had been cut by a little bit more, I figure everyone would have shrugged. By cutting trail maintenance, people get fired up — maybe this allows them to shift the cuts to non-transportation priorities? Maybe it allows council members to prove their bona fides to trail advocates?