Record $20.7 million for cycling and walking approved by Delaware General Assembly in early morning vote

Making cycling and walking safe, convenient and fun in Delaware

Record $20.7 million for cycling and walking approved by Delaware General Assembly in early morning vote

July 1, 2016 Legislation and Policy Transportation Trails Walkable Bikeable Delaware 75
Funding for construction of the final phase of the Wilmington-New Castle Greenway was included in the state budget passed Friday morning.

Funding for construction of the final phase of the Wilmington-New Castle Greenway was included in the state budget passed Friday morning.

The Delaware General Assembly voted early Friday morning to approve a capital budget for the state of Delaware that includes a record $20.7 million for cycling and walking improvements.

In each year since the passage of Walkable Bikeable Delaware in 2011 the state of Delaware has made substantial financial commitments to improving cycling and walking infrastructure in the state. The previous record was set in 2012 when the Delaware General Assembly approved an unprecedented investment authorization of $13 million. This morning’s vote, however, blows past that previous record.

The increased support for cycling and walking in the final budget passed this morning is all the more remarkable in that the legislature’s budget writers had less revenue to work with than they thought they would when Governor Markell made his initial budget proposal back in January and they reduced a number of budget lines in the capital budget as a result. But whereas Governor Markell’s initial budget proposed spending $19 million on cycling and waking, the final budget passed this morning actually increased that number by another million dollars.

One of the most ambitious projects that will now be completed with this authorized funding is the Wilmington-New Castle Greenway, a safe, direct, paved, flat and nearly uninterrupted non-motorized six-mile travel route between the Wilmington Riverfront and downtown New Castle. Another project that will gain additional momentum is the Lewes-Georgetown Trail, a 10 foot wide paved trail that will extend a total of 17 miles all the way from Lewes to Georgetown, creating the longest trail in Delaware.

We are especially grateful for the leadership of State Senator Dave Sokola, the co-chair of the committee that wrote the capital budget, and Governor Jack Markell. It’s not a coincidence that Senator Sokola biked to work yesterday (about 60 miles) and Governor Markell biked to work today (also about 60 miles).

RELATED:

Walkable Bikeable Delaware (Strategic investment in cycling and walking)

• News Journal: “State agencies draw up a dream trail for cyclists”

• Lewes-Georgetown Trail Launches!

 

75 Responses

  1. Yeah! How much is in Sussex County?

  2. This wouldn’t have happened without the leadership and tenacity of Bike Delaware. Great job! Thanks for all that you do!

    • Randy Freed, thank you! We want to acknowledge our non-profit Walkable Bikeable Delaware coalition partners Nemours, Delaware Greenways and American Heart Association – Delaware who have been working closely with us on this for the last 6 years!

  3. Rode the Junction Breakwater trail yesterday and it was as full as I have ever seen it.

  4. Change the transportation engine!

  5. Any idea when this bridge project is supposed to break ground?

  6. Thank you, Bike Delaware.

  7. Thank you, Bike Delaware.

  8. How about some sidewalks!?

  9. How about some sidewalks!?

  10. I’m happy for the project but unhappy about where some of the funds came from.

  11. I’m happy for the project but unhappy about where some of the funds came from.

  12. And those with disabilities now pay ten bucks for a round trip bus ride. Something wrong with this picture

  13. How about some mountain bike trails closer to Middletown? 🙂

  14. At least we will see our tax dollars go to a productive project that so many can benefit from. Kudos!

  15. And no monies for open space? I cannot use bike/walking trails
    Bummer

    • Eydie Foster Beth Anne Poe-Houseman Really important point: Most of the money authorized this morning comes from federal ***transportation*** programs, which cannot be used for the purchase of land or easements. So this authorization wasn’t in competition with – and didn’t take any money away from – the Open Space program.

  16. Thank you to our forward thinking legislature, Governor Markell and Senator Sokola.

  17. Add pavement to the shoulder of North Star Road! Near Paper Mill

  18. how about giving it to schools to hire teachers and to give existing teachers raises, ride your bikes in parks and developements

  19. I do enjoy biking around Delaware. With the dedicated trails and most roads have a significant shoulder.
    I was also wandering if at any time it could be part of the budget to run a street sweeper around some of these large shoulders due to the amount of debris that collects there?
    As a rider and a driver I notice that the bikes have to get close to the road to avoid the gravel, car parts, lumber, and other objects that occupy this space.

  20. […] Delaware, the state’s General Assembly just approved a record $20.7 million for bicycling and walking improvements, and the state has a very pro-biking, pro-East Coast Greenway governor (who took the time to meet […]

  21. I personally have nothing against this but it frustrates me that the General Assembly especially certain members of the Leadership have no problem with this appropriation for something that is no more than a hobby for the affluent. These same Leaders also allow the basic transportation costs to go up significantly for those on fixed incomes and some are at the point they just can’t afford it. A 10 dollar round trip fare on the State’s Para Transit service is a Sin

  22. 25 mil spent on bike and walk path and only one mil for police – Be safe!

  23. Kudos to Bike Delaware and their team to make this happen !

  24. We need a bike lane on munchie branch road and wolfneck road.
    They lead from the highway to the bike trail.

  25. Bout time. Been sick of hearing the bologna of how “bike friendly” and safe Delaware is…especially Sussex County, the land of almost N O bike lanes….

    • I’ve been kind of sick of hearing all the bologna about how our students are not “college and career ready” under the false assumption that state assessments are worthy of being a barometer of student achievement while our schools are massively underfunded but we get pork like this in our budget. Not that I’m complaining…

      https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/delaware-approves-20-7-million-so-markell-sokola-can-have-safe-bike-rides-but-ignore-special-education-funding-bill/

      • I am not stating cycling enthusiasts should go without these things, but in the current state of our state economy, these are things that should go forward if we have a state surplus at a massive margin. But do feel free to disagree!

      • Kevin Ohlandt 80% of this money comes from the federal government for transportation system (capital) investments. The federal government does not permit this money to be spent on schools (or anything not related to transportation). It’s deeply unfair to criticize Governor Markell and Senator Sokola for failing to spend these federal transportation dollars on schools. Neither Governor Markell or Senator Sokola have any authority to re-program this money this way. (They can spend it on walking and cycling projects rather than new roads but they can’t spend it on schools or libraries or hospitals or anything not related to transportation.)

      • Be that as it may, it is just more pork. Even more distressing this comes at a federal level when IDEA Special Education funding at a federal level is at 37.5% of what it should be when the law was reauthorized in 2004. While that has absolutely nothing to do with Bike Delaware, it is symptomatic of a disease in our country where those who already have so much more than others get more while those who don’t have those luxuries lose out. I’m pretty sure an argument could be made somewhere that Delaware’s transportation grants from the Feds could be used to get rid of the Neighborhood Schools Act which has further segregated our schools, especially in Wilmington. Funding is twisted all the time in our state, this should not be an exception. Once again, though, I do want to reiterate this is not a slam against those who enjoy biking, but rather what I consider to be a misuse of funds during a time when others desperately need funding for more apparent reasons. With your permission, may I update my article with your comment?

      • Kevin Ohlandt , Please do. To repeat, it’s not within either Governor Markell’s or Senator Sokola’s discretion to spend these federal transportation dollars on anything other than transportation projects. All they have done is take about ~5% of those FY17 dollars and dedicated them for improving the state for people walking and cycling. And, given that Delaware is the deadliest state in America for pedestrians, it’s not out-of-line for the state to be making improvements that make it safer for people to walk and bicycle. Not to mention, that 2/3rds of Delawareans are overweight or obese and making it safe for people to be more physically active is a critical public health priority. And, if you are an environmentalist, every bike trip that replaces a car trip means less air pollution….These are urgent public policy priorities that have absolutely nothing to do with anybody’s “hobby.”

      • Thank you Bike Delaware for this information. I did update the article with this information and further comments of my own in regards to some of your last comments.

      • Kevin Ohlandt We appreciate the opportunity to comment. While we know nothing about the world of education policy and funding, we have been deeply immersed in the world of transportation policy and funding since 2010. In that transportation policy space we know what we are talking about.

      • Bike Delaware And I appreciate that. But Markell and Sokola have been deeply immersed in both. I would recommend doing a bit of research into what they have wrought with education and see how when something like this announcement is made it can make your organization look bad in light of recent legislation that did not pass in the Delaware budget. The average person is not going to know about how these funds are allocated, which I didn’t until you informed me. Which was also why I felt it was important to notate that in an update on the article. But I stick by my assertions that these are more pet projects than high need. Thank you again for the conversation.

  26. A little expensive maybe 😬😳

  27. […] is the heart of what is wrong with Delaware.  In an article by Bike Delaware, the group brags about how the General Assembly approved $20.7 million for bike trail improvements […]

  28. Then fix this stretch between Hwy One and State Road in Rehoboth Beach please. Deadman’s Curve.

  29. how about a train from Middletown to the Delaware beaches, get a lot of traffic off road

  30. Robert Chambers Justin Sieminski Cory Doppler Showalter

  31. Poor old tire and chip roads will never be up graded, tourist don’t have to ride on them, that’s why. And there is not a school close by. Tired of paying taxes for everything else that doesn’t mount to a hill of beans to me, we need the old wash board, frost weakened roads black topped. Nock the alignment out on our vehicles.

  32. I hope some will come to Sussex County! There is certainly a need!

  33. Jonathan Tos says:

    This article was very similar to the one written last spring advertising funds for the last part of this trail? What happened?

    Will it actually get build THIS year? Hoping so…

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