June 14, 2021 - Thanks to the persistent pandemic-era bike boom, greenways are seeing a surge in use across the USA and worldwide. From New York City’s Hudson River Greenway to Atlanta’s BeltLine, Chicago’s The 606 or Detroit’s Joe Louis Greenway, there’s a concerted effort by advocates for active transportation to complete, and/or build, cohesive networks for cyclists and walkers reports John Surico in Bloomberg.
“Greenways connect commercial corridors. They’re green infrastructure – not just because of the green space, but they also get people out of cars,” says Terri Carta, the executive director of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.
Along with 30 other organizations, Carta is helping to lead the “Greenways 4 NYC” coalition calling on the federal government to commit $1 billion in any potential infrastructure bill to a more elaborate vision: a 400-mile protected five-borough greenway, an idea the city proposed nearly 30 years ago.
Nationwide about 200 environmental and active-transportation organizations, including Carta’s, believe it’s time for a Greenways Stimulus and are stepping up pressure to access $10 billion from President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan or corresponding infrastructure-related bills.
A boon for future greenways across the USA could be the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act, which created an annual $900 million conservation fund from offshore oil and natural gas royalties.
News of states and cities flush with funds from the $350 billion in local aid allocated through the American Rescue Plan may mean new Covid relief money is on the table, as well.
Read the full report here.
