As Americans, we prefer to invest in meaningful transportation connections that deliver people directly, safely and efficiently to their destinations, rather than in "bridges to nowhere."
The Cedar Lake Trail Extension is an important part of a regional bicycle system. Without the proposed extension, it stops short of the Mississippi River Parkway, another popular and well-traveled bike trail. It is as if Interstate 35W were left at a dead end just shy of its connection to I-94.
When our predecessors built that last stretch of the I-94/I-35W interchange in costly and complicated downtown terrain, it was much more expensive than an average mile of freeway. Yes, the Cedar Lake Trail extension would cost more than the average mile of bike trail, but it is worth the investment.
The Cedar Lake Trail was designed as the first "bike freeway" in the country. It averages around 1,000 cyclists per day. It's used by people traveling to their offices, their homes and even their neighborhood grocery stores. After the network is completed, ridership is estimated to triple or even quintuple, making it one of the most heavily used trails in the state. Bottom line: Build the system and people will come.
When building our road system, we rarely settle for a dead end or a lengthy and unsafe detour every time we hit a difficult or expensive stretch of land. Otherwise, our city streets and freeways would detour wildly or end abruptly. We would never expect drivers to endure these conditions, yet we expect cyclists to make those compromises. If we continue to shortchange cyclists, we are shortchanging a vital part of our transportation system.
I am a biking/walking commuter and a transit rider. People like me play an important role in reducing congestion on our local roads and freeways. One more bicyclist means one fewer car on the road, which improves Minnesota's air quality and helps address climate change.
The University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies conservatively estimates that bicycling generates about $300 million in economic benefits for Minnesota every year. This dwarfs the amount our state invests to support bicycling. If Minnesota is truly committed to addressing climate change and economic development, bicycling investments must be part of that solution.
If we invest in a safe, efficient and interconnected bike system, we will see a healthy long-term return on our investment. We can choose to invest in projects, like the final piece of the Cedar Lake Trail, that provide more people with opportunities to bike, walk and take transit, or we can continue to neglect those needs -- a true bridge to nowhere.
