The SMART Board and staff have finally heard and acted on our continued requests to commit funding for the pathway. (Thanks to the four hundred and fifty of you that emailed them this week!)
While we did not get the $20 million we asked for, we got quite a lot in the April 21 meeting.
- Pathway Use Added to Performance Metrics: We have been asking that SMART do bike/ped counts on the path for quite some time, as well as suggesting that how and why people are using the path may not be quite what the Board imagines. This has been added to their list of performance metrics for the next year!
- Amount of Measure Q Funds Spent on the Pathway Revealed: We have been asking for that number to no avail, and it just appeared in one of the presentations! SMART has spent $21.7 million from Measure Q and received $34.8 million in grants; other jurisdictions spent $50.5 million on pathway segments.
- Two-thirds of Identified Capital Investment Funds Allocated to the Pathway: The Board voted to spend $13.4 out of the available $21.4 million on the pathway. (Subject to outcome of the pending lawsuit)
This is a win.
We complain a lot to elected officials, but we rarely acknowledge them when they do the right thing – click here to send a “thank you!”