Bicycle bill

This bill is in the House Finance Committee: HB 132 Bicycle Program. The bill was introduced by Rep. Paul Seaton (here's his statement about it). It would, according to the the university's Juneau Update,

allow appropriations and grants to be used for establishing and maintaining bicycle paths, and would establish a grant program within the Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development for encouraging safe bicycle ridership. The grant program would allow municipalities and nonprofit organizations to apply for financial assistance to establish programs for the purchase, maintenance, and repair of bicycles, bicycle helmets, and bicycle trailers.

Sounds good to me. It sounds good to the Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage, too. The Juneau Empire's Kate Golden had an interesting article on Alaska bicycling in relation to the bill, and this tidbit caught my eye:

Despite the winter, Alaska ranks sixth in the nation in the proportion of people biking to work, according to Bob Laurie, Alaska Department of Transportation's bicycle advocate. (The state ranks first in the percentage who walk to work.) Yet the American League of Bicyclists ranked the state 43rd in overall bike-friendliness, and Sitka is the state's only officially bike-friendly community.

This might be helpful in getting that bicycle trail built on Gold Hill Road, and maybe for getting kids' bike helmets for the ECA for the Fourth of July Parade.