Action Alert: Ensure Proper Trail Funding
One of MTC’s key legislative priorities in this session of the Maine Legislature is LD 1396 - Resolve, To Ensure Proper Funding for Recreational Trails and Transportation Alternatives. This bill would direct the Maine Department of Transportation to obligate “no less than 95% of annual federal apportionment for the Recreational Trails and Transportation Alternatives Programs.”
Why This Bill Matters
Currently, the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) is being funded at 65% of federal (FHWA) apportionment—which means $500,000 annually is not being obligated to RTP, and is being otherwise allocated within the Department of Transportation. If this bill becomes law, it could result in an average of 12 more projects for municipalities, snowmobile & ATV clubs, land trusts, and other trail organizations being funded each year.
Likewise, over the past decade, the Transportation Alternatives Program (TA) has been obligated at widely varying levels of FHWA apportionment, ranging from 1-200% but averaging 50% in recent years. This means roughly $2 million annually is not being obligated to the TA Program and is being otherwise allocated within the Department of Transportation. If this bill becomes law, it could result in an average of five more projects (if they received the maximum grant amount of $400,000) for municipalities to close critical gaps in active transportation networks and address the increasing percentage of pedestrian deaths in Maine.
What You Can Do
Download our fact sheet on LD 1396 and share it with your networks!
Contact your legislators! Let them know you support LD 1396, and encourage them to do the same.
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper explaining why you support Maine trails, highlighting the benefits trails bring to communities, and encouraging others to support this bill to help fund them.
Make sure you’re signed up for our updates. As this bill progresses through the legislative process, we will keep you posted on opportunities to speak up or testify in support.
