Keep the trail money intact
The League of American Bicyclists, an advocacy group representing an estimated 57 million bicyclists, recently ranked Delaware as the 10th most bicycle-friendly state in the U.S. More importantly, the state's ranking jumped to that 10 spot from 18 in 2011, and 31 when the organization first started its rankings in 2008.
When Gov. Jack Markell and a bipartisan group of legislators passed the Walkable, Bikeable Delaware concurrent resolution in 2011, it signaled to the rest of the nation that Delaware is serious about realizing the health benefits, economic benefits and quality-of-life benefits available to all Delawareans when more of our communities are linked by hiking and biking trails.
Markell is committed to moving that ranking to the No. 1 spot. If Delaware's legislators and the governor continue to hold the Department of Transportation's and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's collective feet to the fire to show progress in linking our communities every year, the top ranking will come quickly.
To make those linking trails happen, however, legislators will have to stand behind the governor's proposal to add another $12 million to the initiative in the pending budget.
All efforts to divert those funds elsewhere must be resisted. Building this linking infrastructure is a true 21st-century initiative that will pay huge dividends in the future. Delaware Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf recently announced that Delaware's rate of obesity is alarmingly high and continuing to climb. Much of that obesity is related to inactive lifestyles leading to chronic and debilitating illnesses. Those illnesses impair people's ability to live happy lives and also cost them and the state huge amounts of money for medical care.
Studies show that when walking and bicycling trails are available, people use them and become more active. It's not enough to tell people they need to be more active. An infrastructure must be created to make healthy living easy and enjoyable.
Delaware's Legislature should seize the opportunity to keep this important momentum going by fully funding the budget item to build more linking trails.
