I have recently heard about a decision of the Appropriations subcommittee on transportation and treasury of the House of Representatives that I thought more people should know about.
The subcommittee voted on July 11 to zero out all funding for the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
The TE program is the largest federal source of funding in support of trails, walking and bicycling. This program has invested nearly $6 billion nationally into supporting 16,699 community based projects; of that total, more than $3 billion has gone toward bicycle, pedestrian and rail-trail projects. Locally, we have seen more than $3.1 million put toward projects that include walking trails in Lewiston/Auburn, a sidewalk study in Norway, sidewalks and improved bike and pedestrian facilities in Bethel and improvements made to Waterford’s boat landing, town beach and picnic area.
These projects and many others have directly benefited the people of western Maine.
Joe Wyman,
project director, Healthy Oxford Hills
Send questions/comments to the editors.
