Trails Funding Cut: Cities Scramble for Solutions

0:00It's March 24. I'm Cory with the story. This is Hartford News Today, driven by AI. Cities and states across the country are filing lawsuits and hunting for new funding sources after the Trump administration cut off federal money for. Biking and walking trails. The moves target hundreds of millions in grants, including $2.4 billion rescinded from a Biden-era program last summer. Of that, at least $750 million was set aside for trails, paths, and bike lanes. This funding had strong bipartisan backing since the 1990s, hitting record highs under President Biden with billions from big spending, bills in 2021 and 2022. Now the administration sees these projects as tied to diversity efforts in past policies with more cuts possibly ahead to focus on roads and bridges. Experts call it a knee-jerk shift away from what they view as left-leaning priorities, while transportation officials say they're just rebuilding. Drivers for drivers and commerce.

1:01Groups like rails to trails conservancy, warned that even long-standing trail programs could face risks, hitting active transportation hard. In places like Connecticut, a $5.7 million grant for nine miles of trail vanished, stalling matching state and local funds. Albuquerque sued over an $11.5 million pullback amid high pedestrian deaths there, and even Republican-led spots like Jacksonville. Florida and Metro Atlanta lost big grants, but are tapping private donors and local cash to keep planning alive. As city scramble to fill the gaps, many projects slower pivot, but advocates stress these paths, fix old divides from highways that hurt. Communities, leaving local leaders determined to push forward however they can.