RGF president discusses elimination of federal Rail Trail Funding w/ KOAT Channel 7

Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing had a chance to sit down with KOAT to discuss the fact that the Trump Administration has eliminated $11.5 million in federal funds for the wildly overpriced Albuquerque rail trail being built in Albuquerque at the behest of the Tim Keller Administration. The canceled $11.5 million was allocated under the USDOT Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant of the Biden Administration.

The 7 mile trail is expected to cost up to $90 million which is more than 10X the cost of similar trails which cost closer to $1 million/mile.

It is the belief of RGF that the federal government should NOT be involved in funding projects of purely local interest like bike trails. We’d argue that even the State of New Mexico should not be funding a bike trail that is of purely local interest. The State claims to not have enough money for roads.

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