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This Tuesday, May 15, the Newton County Board of Commissioners will vote on construction bids for the trail from the Newton County Public Library/Chimney Park to Eastside High School.  After tabling the matter twice, the board is out of time to select a contractor before bids expire.  If you care about the type of trail that's built, contact your commissioner before Tuesday night.

The trail design has always been a 10-foot-wide concrete surface.  However, due to concerns over available funding, the county requested bids for both concrete and asphalt.  Every bid received was above the current project budget.  The lowest asphalt bid was roughly $9,000 more, while the lowest concrete bid was $120,000 more.  The City of Covington prefers concrete, because of the lower maintenance costs and longer useful life.  And, the City Council voted already to pay half of the additional construction cost, meaning Newton County only needs to come up with $60,000.

The board of Newton Trails believes concrete is the better choice and best investment, for multiple reasons.  And, because the Commissioners already voted in December 2010 to authorize another $100,000 to complete the trail, we believe they need to carry forward now with that commitment and build the original, full design.  On April 25, we wrote the commissioners a letter, which you can read here.

Please read our letter and -- if you agree -- contact your commissioner on Monday or Tuesday.  Let them know the trail is important to you and urge them to build with concrete as originally planned.
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After two nail-biting nights sitting through long-running city and county meetings, this morning we have cause to celebrate.  Tuesday night, the Newton County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a staff request to commit $100,000  to match a $400,000 federal Transportation Enhancement (TE) grant request .  The grant was necessary to cover the  $460,000 shortfall in funding needed to complete all 2.6 miles.

On Monday night, the Covington City Council declined to provide additional money toward the project, but did hold firm on the $225,000 they have already committed.  That meant the county needed to come up with the $100,000 match for the additional request.  In this extremely challenging fiscal environment, it's understandable that some commissioners were reluctant to vote in favor of the grant application.  Commissioners Ewing and Fleming both sought alternative approaches to reduce the cost (ie, crushed gravel instead of concrete), but those alternatives would have meant starting the project over and losing the money already spent for construction-ready plans.

In the end, the commission voted to proceed with the matching funds coming from the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) funds already budgeted with funds set aside for to-be-identified road projects throughout the year.  Legally, a multi-use trail is a legitimate use for these funds.  But, even more than that, I feel this is an important step towards recognizing that walking and biking are indeed significant transportation modes, and should be seen as such.  Commissioner Schulz made that point last night, as did Chairman Morgan.  And, in doing so, both echoed the direction set this year in a new policy statement from the Federal DOT.   In that statement (viewable here), the DOT urged local governments to give walking and biking the same priority given to other modes of transportation.

However, I don't need US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to tell me how important walking and biking are.  I only need to ask my legally blind neighbor, Anne Wheeler, who cannot drive and thus rides an adult tricycle from her home on Floyd St to the Newton County Public Library or to the Square.  Anne can't wait to have that trail built through the tunnel under the by-pass road, so she can bike to the Ingle's and buy groceries on her own without someone having to drive her.  Or, I can ask Jimmy -- the man who lives on Butler St and bikes past my home on the sidewalk several times going about his daily routine.  I don't know if Jimmy can't drive, or if he chooses not to.  But, I do know he is afraid to bike in the street with traffic.  Jimmy, too, will have a whole new world of safe access when that trail is built.

It wasn't easy, but last night, our county took a small step forward on a very large need.  And, so, this morning, I celebrate and give thanks.
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