Transportation and recreation are not the same. That should be obvious, especially for government, but apparently it will be news to the city’s Sustainable Transportation Plan.
The city and the Parks and Trails Foundation recently opened the Farm Trail between Lovgreen and Day roads (“New hiking trail showcases Bainbridge’s bucolic scenery,” Bainbridge Island Review, 10/31/24). The city’s contribution was $139,000 from its Street Fund, which is intended to support transportation. Building the trail was an objective of the Sustainable Transportation Plan.
Of that amount, $77,000 was given to the BI Metro Park and Recreation District. The district will maintain the trail. The Parks and Trails Foundation speaker at the opening praised the trail for providing a scenic walk in a beautiful natural landscape. The trail is indeed beautiful, and walks will be a lot of fun.
But that trail is not for transportation. Anybody who wants to use it to get somewhere must also travel on Day Road, a busy arterial on which cyclists and pedestrians are forced into the auto lanes. The city has no plans for safety improvements on Day Road anytime soon. The trail itself might be OK for an experienced mountain biker on a sunny day, but is not good for cyclists going to work or school, and certainly not for all ages and abilities.
The city’s main responsibilities funded by taxes are public safety and transportation. Recreation is not a city responsibility. Recreation is the core purpose of the Park and Recreation District, which is separate from the city and has its own elected officials and tax revenue.
The Sustainable Transportation Plan claims to be for non-motorized transportation. Its major stated goals include increasing safety for cyclists and pedestrians and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehicle miles traveled. The city’s recent draft environmental impact statement for its updated Comprehensive Plan shows that the Sustainable Transportation Plan will have no significant impact on vehicle miles traveled. It also shows that the plan will do little to correct the declining safety for commuter cyclists and others using the roads. Those are related. The new Farm Trail will do nothing for either.
The city’s proposed budget for 2025-26 includes $130,000 in city funding for non-motorized transportation projects. The BI City Council has announced that it will amend that to add $100,000 for small Sustainable Transportation projects. The city may seek more grants for Sustainable Transportation projects that require city matching funds. Will these projects actually support transportation, or support recreation instead? We don’t know.
Peter Harris of Bainbridge Island was a planner, budget analyst and legislative analyst for Seattle for 30 years. As such he was involved with transportation plans for environmental quality and public safety.
