Obama Administration Mandating Bikeways And Walkways - Why?

Debbie Pelley

Letter to the Editor
by Debbie Pelley, Jonesboro, Arkansas: Why is [President] Obama’s Secretary of Transportation mandating bikeway and walkways in all transportation plans? If bikeways were for recreation, surely in this desperate economic time, they would be put on hold.

Just 21⁄2 years after the $840 billion stimulus bill that was supposed to fuel all kinds of jobs and economic growth, Obama has asked for another $447 billion stimulus bill. Except this time Obama is calling it a “jobs” bill.

To sell his jobs bill, Obama has campaigned across the country bewailing our crumbling roads and bridges. If our bridges are as dangerous as Obama contends and bikeways are for recreation, then isn’t it foolish for Obama to mandate spending money on bikeways instead of bridges?

The following quotes are from the U.S. transportation secretary’s Regulation and Recommendation, March 11, 2010. “Every transportation agency, including DOT, has the responsibility to integrate walking and bicycling into their transportation systems. The secretary has the authority to withhold approval for projects that would negatively impact pedestrians and bicyclists.” In the recommendation section is this bullet point: “Considering walking and bicycling as equal with other transportation modes.” [Link to the article]

Little Rock is now seeking a federal $12 million grant for finishing a 14-mile bikeway - at least $1 million a mile. The U.S. department has deemed this project worthy of funding.

In his 2012 budget Obama has proposed $556 billion for a 6-year surface transportation plan and “$53 billion over six years to improve passenger rail service...reaching the president’s goal of providing 80 percent of Americans with convenient access to a passenger rail system within 25 years.” [White House link]

So what are the bikeways and passenger rail really all about? Michael Moore speaks for Obama and global warming advocates: “The things we call cars may have been fun to drive, but they only lead to the ruin of our species and much of the planet.”

On Nov. 3 Republicans tried but failed in their third attempt to eliminate federal money for bikeways, walking trails and other mass transportation projects. Mandating bikeways and doing away with our cars is definitely a Democratic move, not a Republican one.
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Debbie Pelley is Retired Arkansas Teacher of 27 years. She is presently a grassroots citizen activist, researcher and writer who advocates for the Arkansans and for transparent and limited government.

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Additional Notes From Debbie Pelly:
Below is a section of an article I was invited to do for the Jonesboro Sun on October 31 (a Question and Answer article) that explains more than my letter to the editor would allow. Below that see another letter to editor confirming the truth of my statement about hearing at our Jonesboro MPO meeting last year: That leaders of the MPO believe in the near future that not only our children and grandchildren but we older adults will be riding bicycles and walking rather than driving cars.

Q: Earlier this year you voiced opposition to plans by the Jonesboro Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization to start several local transportation projects. Some of those projects include sidewalks, bicycle trails, greenways, etc. Why do you oppose these efforts?

A: Conservatives want less government, not more. The Jonesboro Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is incorporating many aspects of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda 21 document adopted in 1992. Agenda 21 is a comprehensive blueprint of action to be taken in every area in which people directly affect the environment [global warming]. Federal legislation now requires the formation of an MPO for any urbanized area in the nation with a population greater than 50,000. So our Jonesboro MPO originated with international and federal government rather than local or state government. The Jonesboro MPO uses the words “Sustainable Development” in their literature.

Sustainable Development is designed to change our very way of life, our housing, our property, our mode of transportation, and where we live. Al Gore called it a “wrenching transformation” in his book “Earth in the Balance.” The scientific fraud of the 2009 Climategate scandal confirmed conservatives’ fears that the global warming scare was just another created crisis to allow more government control over our lives.

Eliminating as much transportation by cars (for global warming purposes) as possible is a goal of the U.N. Sustainable Development...Jonesboro MPO’s Transportation Plan includes numerous goals and policies to implement bikeways and walkways in their written plan. Following is just one example. “Work towards...increasing trips by bicycle and foot by a certain percentage over 2010 levels.”

At the first MPO meeting I attended, the speakers kept talking about bikeways and walkways, so I asked: “Are the bike trails for the purpose of recreation or for actual transportation to reduce the number of cars on the road?” Mr. Muhammad Ulkarim (Director of MPO) answered: “The bike trails are mostly recreational now, but in the near future they will be for transportation and to reduce the number of cars on the road.” After a couple more questions, we asked, “So do you envision a future where our children and grandchildren will be riding bicycles rather than driving cars?” The answer: “It won’t be just our kids and grandchildren, it will be you and me — us,” indicating it would be coming very soon. (Most of the people there were over 50 and probably over 60.)

There is no way Americans are going to depend on walking and biking and mass transit unless the government forces it on them through high gas prices, expensive cars, regulations, etc. There are all kinds of energy that could be tapped in our own country including drilling in Alaska, offshore and other places. Therefore, the government is imposing extreme unnecessary hardships on its citizens, and the MPO is knowingly or unknowingly cooperating with the federal government in its endeavors.

All this money is being wasted on bikeways, walkways, mass transit, light rail, etc., just like our president has wasted it on Solyndra and other solar plants for global warming purposes. According to Fox, President Obama has included a $53 billion investment in national high-speed intercity passenger rail network in this year’s budget and is pushing ahead with his plan to give 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years. Amtrak has lost $13 billion in the last 10 years. [This 80% figure is confirmed on this White House website link]

Smart Growth, a partner with the Environmental Protection Agency, is a Sustainable Development program the Jonesboro MPO promotes. The following quote on the EPA Web site describes how broad the Sustainable Development program is. “Smart growth development practices support national environmental goals by preserving open spaces and parkland and protecting critical habitat; improving transportation choices, including walking, bicycling, and transit, which reduces emissions from automobiles; promoting brownfield redevelopment; and reducing impervious surfaces, which improves water quality.”

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