Spring means more people hitting biking and hiking trails. But trail advocates say a Trump administration review of grants made under President Biden puts active transportation projects at risk.
Transcript:
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Tomorrow, the Rails to Trails Conservancy wants people to hop on their bikes or lace off some sturdy walking shoes to take part in Celebrate Trails Day. It's a group that advocates for trails, and it says thousands of transportation projects are at risk as the Trump administration reviews grants made under President Biden. Chuck Quirmbach of member station WUWM has this report.
CHUCK QUIRMBACH, BYLINE: Every spring, somewhere between 50 and 100 people take part in what's called a promise zone ride to look at planned improvements in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods on Milwaukee's north side. It's a friendly, lively event, as long as you can avoid reckless automobile drivers and the potholes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Look, you're going right into the pothole. Look at you, you're going to be one of them people.
QUIRMBACH: The Milwaukee area has developed a half dozen major biking and hiking trails on abandoned and active railroad corridors, riverbanks and power line rights of way. But the promise zone ride is on city streets, partly because in this densely populated part of town, the nearest recreational trail is more than two miles away.
CHERYL BLUE: Unfortunately, we've had people on bikes killed on the streets, you know, lots of car accidents and things like that.
QUIRMBACH: That's Cheryl Blue, a bike rider and economic revitalization official who's part of a coalition that's been trying for years to get a seven-mile trail built alongside a railroad track.
BLUE: So this project will give people access to an 18-mile loop around the city where they'll be able to bike safely, walk safely through their neighborhoods and for the children to have a safe place to bike and play.
QUIRMBACH: In early January, the Biden administration awarded the Milwaukee trail project $1.6 million for additional planning. But now U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the department is reviewing that grant, one of 3,200 he says were announced over the last three years. At least a quarter of those grants are related to biking, according to the Rails to Trails Conservancy. At an April Senate Committee hearing, Duffy said he likes bikes.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SEAN DUFFY: Bikes are healthy. Bikes oftentimes, many places, move people faster.
QUIRMBACH: But Duffy says he's reviewing grants the Biden administration did not finalize. He says they didn't have signed agreements laying out the project's scope, schedule and budget.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DUFFY: It's easy, you know, to blow the kazoo and send up the balloons when you announce a project. The hard work is actually doing the grant agreement.
QUIRMBACH: However, in March, a leaked policy memo from the DOT indicated another reason for the funding pause. It called for removing elements of projects related to climate change, bike infrastructure or those that take equity into account. Duffy told the senators he is looking at those factors. The DOT did not respond to requests for additional information. However, Kevin Mills of the Rails to Trails Conservancy says if the federal government's money for trails is not available, most communities can't cover the cost.
KEVIN MILLS: It's expensive and beyond the capacity of most local governments to consider picking up the entire tab.
QUIRMBACH: The Rails to Trails Conservancy says it's already working with partners across the country to develop contingency plans. But if awarded grants are terminated, it says that could set trail planning by states and municipalities back significantly. And keeping bike riders on busy streets, the group maintains, could cost lives.
For NPR News, I'm Chuck Quirmbach in Milwaukee.
