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Thanks to the advocates at the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, a previously off-limits stream of cash will now flow to local bike paths.

The circuitous story starts in 2000, when the community passed a bond measure, taxing properties for recreation facility improvements. Part of Measure S was the allocation of $5,000 per mile, per year, for new bike path maintenance.

At the time, officials projected 25 miles of new bike paths would be built by 2008. But tough economic times put those plans on indefinite hold — and, by extension, put the money from Measure S in a jam.

Because of state budget problems, only 8 of the projected 25 miles of new bike paths had been built by 2010. And while the tax dollars for bike path maintenance were coming in — to the tune of $85,000 per year — Measure S language precluded that cash from being spent on paths built before 2000.

With those old bike paths in need of renovation and dollars for bicycle infrastructure tough to come by, the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition (LTBC) had its eye on unleashing those locked-up funds. Luckily, an opportunity presented itself in 2010. “A year and a half ago, the Mayor came to me and said she wanted to revisit Measure S and find a way of amending it so that accumulating funds could be used,” Ty Polastri, the LTBC’s president, explains.

So the LTBC set out to uncover and understand the finer points and challenges of Measure S. Over the course of many months, Polsatri says, advocates met and listened to the intent of the Joint Powers Authority and even did their own research — preparing a bike path maintenance analysis. But the political nature of the potential ballot initiative, at first, made the Coalition cautious.

“We did not take a stand because we believed we couldn’t — so as not to put our 501c3 at jeopardy,” Polastri continues.

But that didn’t mean the LTBC sat on the sidelines, especially when it came time for public hearings on the new ballot measure this summer.

“We saw how [the language] was still confusing and not clear,” Polastri says. “We decided it was our position to do everything possible to make this process transparent and fight for specificity and clarity of language so the voters could understand the Measure and its implications. We began making suggestions on rewriting the language and still publicly remained neutral. We fought to protect the funds for new bike path maintenance and crafted a compromise that monies could go to old, pre-Measure-S bike paths for funding.”

Under the new Measure R, new and old bike paths would receive approximately $2.7 million over the term of the bond for renovation and maintenance — 43 percent more maintenance funding than under Measure S.

“At that point, we moved to be all in,” Polastri says. “We had to engage the rest of the community, particularly the bicycle community who still didn’t trust the Measure and the people behind it.  The LTBC had to take a strong stance to inform, educate, and promote that this measure was the last opportunity and the best one to get dollars for bike paths.”

Staying within the bounds of their 501c3 status — by spending no more than 20 percent of their annual budget on advertising for or against the initiative — the LTBC took a leadership role on Measure R. On November 8, it passed with an impressive 71 percent of the vote.

For Polastri, though, the funding isn’t the only win. The effort also boosted the visibility and credibility of the LTBC for future campaigns. “Now, other public agencies have contacted me to help them with other bike related issues of bike trails and highway safety,” Polastri says. “We’ve demonstrated our commitment and leadership to build strategic alliances and help move community to become more livable and sustainable.”

Read more and access a number of materials related to the Measure R campaign on the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition website.

South Lake Tahoe is welcoming 25 new bike racks thanks to a collaboration with the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition.  These are the first bike racks to be installed by the city. According to the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, “The first one was installed at the city administration offices at the airport.  Additional racks will be installed at city properties where it is determined to be of high use.”  According to John Greenhut, Director, Public Works, “some of the racks will be placed at city facilities and the remainder of the inventory will be donated to the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition for installation where optimum bicycle use is occurring and the greatest need for secure parking is evident.”

For more about the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, visit http://www.tahoebike.org/.

With persistence and courage, the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition has secured funds for maintenance of its local bicycle paths. 

A threatening Measure B attempted to amend funds allocated to bike path maintenance (Measure S), but instead was narrowly defeated on election day. Although the election has passed and the Coalition has claimed a victory, it is still taking precautionary steps and is actively gathering all Measure S documents in order to be better prepared for future initiatives and possible measures to protect bike path maintenance funds.

As stated by the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, they are hopeful that this event has awakened the bicycle community to the need to be organized, unified, and action-oriented. Special thanks were also extended to all voters and other organizations helping in the cause to retain the integrity of Measure S. To find out more about the election and the Coalition’s involvement, visit www.tahoebike.org

According to the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, “A new collaboration between the Coalition and the City of South Lake Tahoe began this month with the painting of bike emblems on city streets. This collaboration will assist cyclists in navigating through town and will increase awareness among motorists that cyclists are sharing the road.  The Coalition hopes to expand its painting project to other Tahoe communities and will maintain them annually.”

More good news from Lake Tahoe, “The City of South Lake Tahoe earmarked $25,000 in the 2009 general budget for the purchase of bike racks to be installed throughout the city. Racks will be installed at City properties and will also be made available to local businesses who are interested.  The racks will be free to qualifying businesses who will be responsible for installation and maintenance.”

For more information, click here…