Help Connect the Circuit!
Last night CCPA in conjunction with Feet First Philly and Clean Air Council joined other regional advocates for the Bicycle Coalition’s Caucus for the Circuit, where we discussed the current status of the regional network and what we can do to work towards the completed network. Chief among the Bicycle Coalition’s goals is replenishing the $10 million fund created by the William Penn Foundation to further trail efforts, including planning, design and implementation. Over the last few years this fund has helped to leverage additional local, regional and national financing that has completed projects across the Philadelphia region, including the 58th St. Connector, the Schuylkill River Trail extension and the Perl St. Connector. The fund has been spent down over the last three years, and additional funding needs to be secured to keep regional trail development moving forward at the current pace, as well as to supplement Federal programs that are starting to wind-down.
To help with funding efforts, the Bicycle Coalition is asking riders and area residents to sign a petition in support of the Circuit that can be shown to public and private organizations around the region to demonstrate wide-spread support for the project. The Coalition is also looking for Letters of Support from businesses and institutions who believe a well-connected trail system will be good for their communities and the local economy. Individuals interested in donating to a central fund for the Circuit will be somewhat disappointed, as no-such fund has been set up. Instead, the Coalition is asking individual donors to help support existing advocacy organizations and local groups working on design and implementation of local segments of the regional network. As list of these organizations can be found on the Circuit’s webpage.
People interested in finding out more about the Circuit and efforts to complete the project should check out their webpage at connectthecircuit.org. Interested riders should also be sure to check out the Philadelphia Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan and the nearly completed Philadelphia Trail Master Plan (draft) – which features detailed information on each individual trail in Philadelphia and its current development status. We encourage all readers to fill our the Circuit petition, and ask that you pass along any and all businesses or organizations you believe would support the project to Susan@BicyleCoalition.org.
(Somewhat selfishly, we’d like to note that Commuter Connection PA, Feet First Philly, Clean Air Council and one participant from the Society Hill area were the only of nearly 100 caucus attendees who bicycled to the event – evidence that more and better regional trails are needed).
