Just noticed that Metro has released the results of the 45-day public comment period on projects hoping to get funding through a big pot of dollars known as MTIP.
The BTA’s Policy Director Scott Bricker — who worked hard to encourage participation in this process — wrote on their blog that bicyclists commented more than any other transportation group.
Besides bike trails, among the 66 projects vying for funds were plans to improve freight routes, motor vehicle routes, bridges, sidewalks, and transit facilities.
Bricker notes that the bike projects receiving the most positive comments were the Fanno Creek Trail: Hall Boulevard crossing study, the Sullivan’s Gulch Trail, the Willamette Greenway Trail, the Milwaukie to Lake Oswego Trail and two bike boulevard projects.
According to Metro’s report, they received a total of 1,237 comments and bike and trail projects made up 28% or 345 of them. You can download (it’s a 14MB PDF) the report if you’d like the full breakdown and analysis (the 739 page report includes a reproduction of each and every comment they received).
It’s important (and sort of interesting) for everyone who cares about having great trails and bike facilities to learn more about how these big projects are funded.
Kudos to everyone who took time to comment and to the BTA for helping to get the word out.