LAKE TOMAHAWK, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Efforts are underway to make Oneida County more bike and walk friendly.
Many of the projects are community focused. In Lake Tomahawk, the town is working to connect a bike trail from nearby campgrounds to the businesses in town.
In Rhinelander, there’s an effort to build a sidewalk along Davenport Street connecting the neighborhoods along the road to downtown.
Jackie Cody is the president of the Oneida County Biking and Walking Trails Council. “I want to say we have a long ways to go, but we’re also making some progress we haven’t seen in the past few years.”
Cody believes even more of these projects could be accomplished if the state took full advantage of its federal funding.
The federal government designates nearly 2% of funds for such projects, but it often goes unused in Wisconsin.
The League of American Bikers says the state spends 85-cents per capita of federal funds on biking and walking infrastructure. It ranks 49th out of 50 states when it comes to federal spending. “We need dollars committed at the state level as Joint Finance Committee needs to start funding biking and walking fully in the state with the 2% funding that is their responsibility.”
A 2017 study from the Outdoor Industry Association found people spent $1.4 billion dollars on bicycle-related expenses in Wisconsin.
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