A Good Article on Transportation Funding Recission

The state Department of Transportation recently gave back $50 million including funds for bike and ped projects. Tom Humphrey (a long time reporter on state government) writes about it here.

See the comments from the lobbyist for the road builders. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry or both.

The House Republicans are proposing that bike and ped projects not be mandated to states in the new transportation authorization. Here is what we can expect.

In fact, Startwalt suggests that enhancement funding could be shifted to filling the gap in road-building funds.

This is what we can expect in the future.

Thermoplastic Edge Lines

Bike/Walk Tennessee directors Bruce Day and Tom Evans on January 15 tested how compatible grooved thermoplastic edge lines are with cycling, using road bikes with 700x25 tires on a stretch of US 246. The grooved lines presented no problem whatsoever, and they rode on and across them numerous times. Although the lines can be felt, they did not present anything other than the ordinary for a road cyclist.

Grooved thermoplastic road markings may present a more bike-friendly alternative to rumble strips in terms of reducing run-off road crashes. The markings gently alert drivers to reaching the line, and they're not as loud. As an additional benefit, pavement longevity is not adversely affected by them, unlike the case with rumble strips. Bike/Walk Tennessee is proud to have assisted TDOT with this assessment.
Click here for copy of the report.

New Bicycle and Pedestrian Policy at TDOT

On the heels of a successful meeting with Governor Elect Bill Haslam's staff on this past Friday, Bike Walk Tennessee advocates were pleased to read that the Tennessee Department of Transportation has recently strengthened its bicycle and pedestrian policy.  The entire policy can be viewed here, but this is a list of major improvements to the policy: