Tom Harkin: “the amendment I am offering, on behalf of Senators Kennedy, Obama, Carper, and myself, calls for several simple…”

“the amendment I am offering, on behalf of Senators Kennedy, Obama, Carper, and myself, calls for several simple adjustments to current practices at the Federal, State, and local level. The costs are minor, but the impact on safety for those who walk and ride bikes would be large. With the safety improvements that could result from this amendment, I believe we could increase pedestrian and bike traffic, and we could increase exercise to the benefit of American's health. We can reduce traffic congestion, and we can provide for safer travel for those who want to walk or ride a bike. At the outset, I want to acknowledge that there are funds in the bill for increased bike paths and trails. We have kept the enhancement money. That is all well and good. I don't know the exact amount of money, but there is a quite a bit involved. The problem is there is nothing in current practice that requires State departments of transportation or metropolitan planning organizations to integrate in their planning upfront for bike paths and sidewalks when they are planning highways. Again, I think a lot of the good money for bike paths and trails will be used to redo and retrofit what they should have done in the first place. That is what we always seem to be doing-- we'll fix it up and add something later on. That always costs more money. What this amendment does is it says: Let's have them at the initial planning stage integrate into their planning sidewalks and bike paths.…”