Ask Mr. Answer Person about Pole Line Road

Tim e-mails Mr. Answer Person: "I would like to know why the City of Decorah spends millions on bike trails when there are roads like Pole Line Road that are in desperate need of repaving?  Bike trail funds should help cover the cost of this road since it is listed as a bike trail on the Decorah Parks and Rec website."

Mr. Answer Person says, "I'm not trying to pick on you, Tim, but there are a whole bunch of statements you've gotten wrong. 

First of all, you should know that the City of Decorah has NOT spent millions on bike trails.  Trout Run Trail was built with grants and donations.  There were a lot of private individuals who gave money to the bike trail because they thought it would be good for Decorah.  In addition, bike trail organizers were able to get numerous state grants, including State Recreation Trail Grants, Federal Enhancement Grants, Iowa DNR Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Grants, Iowa Great Places Grant, IJOBS Grant, Vision Iowa Grants and Iowa Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) Grants.

It's also important to point out that these state grants were from funds designated for bike trails--in other words, they weren't funds taken away from road construction fund.

Your second statement that "Pole Line Road is in desperate need of repaving" won't be argued by anyone.  But almost all of Pole Role is the responsibility of Winneshiek County--just 1,000 feet of Pole Line Road west of Highway 52 is the city's responsibility.

Winneshiek County had scheduled a bid letting for Pole Line Road paving this year.  The project would have been paid using 60 percent federal funds and 40 percent state "Farm to Market" funds.  But because the gasoline tax in Iowa hasn't been increased since the 1970s and because there was uncertainty about the federal highway tax money, due to Congress dithering, the State Highway Department told Winneshiek County it couldn't guarantee money for the project this year--and so the project was put on hold.

Finally, when you say "Bike trail funds should help cover the cost of this road since it is listed as a bike trail on the Decorah Parks and Rec website," you should know that bike trails and other quality of life improvements and amenities generally use funds that cannot to be used on street projects.  And why does listing Trout Run Trail on the city's website obligate the city to repair Pole Line Road?