Speak Up! Be heard!

As you know, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was recently passed. Did you know that Alabama has had $513,692,000 appropriated to it for Highway Infrastructure Investment, with $22,996,589 allocated to Birmingham?

Highway Infrastructure Investment is defined this way by www.stimulus.alabama.gov: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides additional funding for restoration repair, construction, rail transportation and port infrastructure projects. Some of these funds will be awarded as competitive grants, while some of the funds will be distributed to states by formula. the Secretary of Transportation will automatically distribute the funds within 21 days after the date of enactment.



This would be where bike lanes and "Complete Streets" come in. What can you do? Write a letter to Birmingham's leaders asking that they spend Stimulus funds on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Sound daunting? No worries...I have already put together a letter you can simply copy, change the appropriate name (yours) and email. Please do this, we need all the voices we can get!

**********************************
Dear [NAME OF OFFICIAL],

I,[YOUR NAME], am writing to discuss our city's plans for spending the
transportation funding that Congress provided through the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Alabama has had $513,692,000 appropriated to it for Highway Infrastructure Investment, with $22,996,589 allocated to Birmingham.

I request that Birmingham prioritize our Transportation Enhancements funds
for bicycle and pedestrian projects. Building sidewalks, bike lanes, and
multi-use paths net more jobs per dollars spent than highway projects,
because they use fewer materials and are more labor intensive. These
projects are also generally smaller and quicker to build, ensuring that
Birmingham can get funding out the door rapidly and in a way that benefits
local engineering and construction firms, as well as communities.

In addition, I request that Birmingham give priority to highway and road
projects that create "complete streets", which ensure that all users,
whether walking, bicycling, taking public transportation, or driving, are
accommodated.

Bicycle, pedestrian, and complete streets projects turn streets and
downtowns into destinations for shopping and entertainment, which help
local businesses and the "Main Street" economy. Families that can walk and
bicycle to school, work, shopping, and transit also have an easier time
meeting their bottom-line transportation costs. These projects also lay an
important foundation to address some of our city's major crises,
including physical inactivity and obesity, pollution, crime and poverty. This is something much needed and long overdue in Birmingham.

I look forward to hearing back from you on this important matter.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
*************************

Where to send this?

Larry Langford: larry.langford@birminghamal.gov

Gregory Dawkins: Acting City Traffic Engineer, gregory.dawkins@birminghamal.gov

Tracey Morant Adams: Director, Office of Economic Development tracey.adams@birminghamal.gov

Carol Duncan: City CouncilChairwoman of Transportation & Communication Committee carol.duncan@birminghamal.gov

You can also print and mail this (I plan to do both). You can find addresses here.

PLEASE PLEASE send an email to these folks soon. We have a say in what happens, but only if we make our voices heard!

bike love!