State Transportation Funding Update

Dear Friends,

Last year, I’M for Iowa promoted the 2007 Iowa State University Wildness Symposium, organized by Mary Swander.  The event was a watershed experience for me.  Lynn and I had supper with Bill McKibben and then listened to him talk about global warming.  His compelling arguments for immediate action spurred us to get involved with the national Step It Up coalition.

This year’s event is February 17 – 19.  It looks like a great line-up of speakers and activities.  For detailed information, visit http://engl.iastate.edu/4th-annual-symposium.

On the state legislative front, I want to call your attention to one initiative in particular.  HSB 628 is looking to pump $185 million per year into expanding and maintaining the state’s highways.  The legislation should, at a minimum, make sure that maintenance of existing roads is prioritized over new construction.

And we need provisions that guard against money being used for roads that subsidize poor land-use decisions.  Under current practice, this happens extensively.  The millions of dollars that paid for highway access to Jordan Creek Mall is a case in point, as is the proposed north-east Polk County beltway.  It’s high time the Legislature gave the DOT a clear directive that transportation dollars should not enable urban sprawl.

It’s also critical that this bill place a high priority on bus, passenger rail, and bike and pedestrian access.  The bus has always been DOT’s ugly step child.  Yet as concern about farmland loss, air quality, and global warming grow, it’s important that Iowa’s 35 bus systems (both rural and urban) are given fair and equal treatment in the budgeting process.

With regards to pedestrian and bicycle access, the discussion needs to move beyond recreational trails to bikes and legs as legitimate forms of transportation.  Yes, trails are wonderful.  Sometimes they can even work into a commuting route.  But it’s just as important to invest in safe sidewalks, bike lanes, and related structural improvements.

If the bus is the DOT’s ugly step child, passenger rail is its orphan.  There’s no reason this budget discussion shouldn’t include train travel from the Quad Cities to Council Bluffs, from Clinton to Sioux City, and points in between.

Let’s make sure this great opportunity isn’t frittered away with the lion’s share of the new revenue going to new highway construction.

Thanks for reading,

Ed Fallon