Is Columbia getting $40M for bicycle projects? Mayor candidate admits error
Columbia mayoral candidate Tameika Isaac Devine said Monday she was incorrect when she said, during a recent forum hosted by The State, that the capital city was set to get $40 million in federal dollars, championed by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, for bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
Clyburn has worked to set aside money for the Walk Bike Columbia plan in a still-under-debate infrastructure bill in Congress. But the potential amount at hand is ten times smaller than Devine said, at $4 million.
The State hosted a candidate forum on Oct. 6 for the four hopefuls seeking the mayoral seat: Devine; former District 3 City Councilman Moe Baddourah; Sam Johnson, a former aide to Mayor Steve Benjamin, and District 4 City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann. During the forum, the hopefuls were asked how they would improve bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Columbia and increase connectivity in the city.
Devine said at the forum that Clyburn, who has endorsed her campaign, had helped get tens of millions in federal dollars for Columbia bike plans. She said she had asked the congressman to get federal help for the infrastructure in Columbia.
“Thanks to Congressman Clyburn, who is a supporter of me and my campaign, we’ve gotten $40 million to implement Walk Bike Columbia,” she said at the Oct. 6 virtual event. “So now you will start seeing those bike lanes and connectivity.”
The idea of that amount of funding coming in for bike and pedestrian infrastructure — for context, Segra Park baseball stadium cost $37 million to construct — was likely tantalizing to those in Columbia’s cycling community.
But Devine told The State on Monday she was mistaken about the amount.
“I’ve been corrected on that,” Devine said. “It was $4 million. I was in D.C. (earlier this year) speaking with Congressman Clyburn’s staff, and I heard $40 million. But they said $4 million. I said that (at the forum) because I was under the impression it was 40.”
Devine, who has been on city council for 19 years, said she since has gotten a call from Clyburn, who told her the amount he pushed to set aside in the yet-to-be-approved infrastructure bill is actually $4 million.
The councilwoman said Monday she will continue to push for more federal funding for bike infrastructure, aside from the money Clyburn has made an effort to get.
Clyburn worked to get $20 million to fund several highway and transit projects in the 6th Congressional District in the infrastructure bill that currently is being debated in Congress. Among those items was $4 million for construction and implementation of bicycle and pedestrian lanes in the capital city.
“These project allocations mark the first opportunity for members of Congress to respond directly to community requests in more than a decade,” Clyburn said in a July release about the funding.
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 3:49 PM.
