PBS: Grant Money For Bike Lanes Dries Up for Blue States

Infrastructure in rural areas are sorely in need of repairs and upgrades.  But what does it mean for cities in blue states?  “Of the 41 grants announced by the Trump administration, 25 totaling $271 million were awarded to projects in congressional districts represented by Republicans. Districts represented by Democrats garnered 14 projects and $190 million.”

Under Trump, new transportation grants ditch bikes, walkways

 

 

A woman rides a bicycle along a designated bike lane on Queens Boulevard in the borough of Queens in New York, U.S., May 5, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton – S1BETDQANDAB

WASHINGTON — Forget about bike-share stations in Chicago or pedestrian walkways in Oakland.

In the Trump administration, a popular $500 million transportation grant program is focused more on projects in rural areas that turned out for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. That means more road and rail projects in GOP strongholds such as Idaho, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, and fewer “greenways,” ”complete streets” and bike lanes.

The latest round of these grants has nothing for New York City, Los Angeles or Chicago. Money in those Democratic heavy states went instead to projects in Trump-friendly regions: repainting a bridge in New York’s North Country, contributing to a highway project in Modesto, California, and upgrading an interstate highway in southern Illinois.

Read more..

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/under-trump-new-transportation-grants-ditch-bikes-walkways

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: