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Trails Serve More Than Recreation

By R. BRUCE DONALD

February 10, 2008

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Federal transportation legislation passed in the 1990s called for the
integration of bicycling and walking into the transportation
mainstream. Agencies were directed to accommodate walking and biking as
"a routine part of their planning, design, construction, operations and
maintenance activities."

It is remarkable how little progress Connecticut has made on this
policy.

As an advocate for multi-use trails in our state, I have seen some
great successes, such as the completion of major sections of the
Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and the East Coast Greenway. But these
accomplishments have been driven by a patchwork of advocates and
officials, not the state Department of Transportation. Indeed, these
trails and others have been built despite the general indifference of
the DOT.

It is a fact that a number of bike/ped advocates over the years have
heard DOT staffers say to their faces that their agency advocates for
motor vehicles only. I can talk for hours on how hard it continues to
be to get trails built in the Farmington Valley.

When challenged on this, DOT people have taken the position that biking
and walking are recreation, not transportation. On the Canal trail, we
funded a laser counter that recorded trail users at one piece of the
system in Simsbury. From November 2006 to November 2007 it counted more
than 110,000 individual visits with an overall gross traffic count of
167,424. It stretches credulity that this safe, multi-use trail linking
Farmington Valley towns is not being used for commuting and short trips
apart from recreation.

A group including the Capital Region Council of Governments and a
variety of other organizations and individuals are working on a plan to
get Metropolitan Hartford designated in the federal 2010 Campaign for
Active Transportation ("active transportation" is the act of walking or
biking for all or some of your daily travel). A 2005 federally funded
pilot program allowed four communities to expand their bicycle and
pedestrian facilities. It was a huge success and we expect it to be
greatly expanded in the next federal bill. This new active
transportation initiative has the goal of creating a trails plan for
Metro Hartford and its suburbs to be in place by later this month in
the hopes of attracting that federal money and connecting and expanding
Metro Hartford's bike/ped footprint.

Unfortunately, this piece of work and many others take place outside of
current DOT policy. Various and sundry bicycle and pedestrian plans
generated outside the DOT monolith have been ignored.

This disconnect simply should not exist. We now have an opportunity to
make it go away. The state is in the process of selecting a new DOT
commissioner. One test should be the understanding that biking and
walking are not merely recreational activities, but integral parts of a
well-balanced transportation system.

There is irrefutable evidence that where trails have been built,
commuting by bicycle has increased enormously. To put it succinctly,
there is demand. This demand can cut fossil fuel use, and reduce
pollution and traffic while bolstering our collective health. That is
why the DOT should take a leadership role in developing a statewide
network of bicycle paths and on-road bike lanes. The department must
consider every transportation project (including bridges and repaving)
as an opportunity to improve pedestrian and bicycle access and safety.

Recently MassHighway implemented a truly progressive Project
Development and Design Guide that clearly identifies how bicycles and
pedestrians can be safely accommodated in the state's transportation
infrastructure. Use that as a model. Implement a statewide safety
campaign like the successful "Slow Down for Work Zones" ads.

Finally, the tyranny of the purse strings must end. The department must
abandon its past practices of delay and restricting the use of federal
"flex funding" on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

This isn't all that much action; it mostly requires a bureaucratic
change of heart. Let's hope we'll get a commissioner who will integrate
bicycling and walking in plans, policies and funding at the new DOT.

R. Bruce Donald is president of the not-for-profit Farmington Valley
Trails Council.

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