A bridge to the 20th Century

The $120 billion joint transportation bill approved by Congress Friday, which funds federal programs for 27 months, drastically cuts walking and bicycling projects. Formerly 2 percent of the budget, bike-ped projects like sidewalks, crosswalks, and bicycle lanes will be put under the new Transportation Alternatives program and chopped 60 to 70 percent to well under 1 percent, advocates say. There's no funding for the popular multimodal TIGER grants. A discretionary grant program is included that could serve a similar purpose, Streetsblog notes, but cities will not be able to apply directly for grants — an important aspect of TIGER. Current funding levels have been maintained for transit. Dedicated funding for street repair has been stripped out — meaning some states can spend all of their money on new roads, producing more sprawl and creating future maintenance liabilities.