Runners Vs. Cyclists: Obama's Stimulus Upsets Joggers

Oh, what mighty debates and questionable projects Obama’s stimulus packages creates! A controversy has broken out over a paving a stretch of bicycle trails between runners and cyclist thanks to stimulus funding.

The Frisco Highline trail is a primarily gravel trail connecting Springfield, Missouri to Bolivar, Missouri as it passes through communities like Willard. Thanks to this questionable job-producing $787 billion debt, more sections of the Frisco Highline Trail are about to become paved surfaces at the pleasure of cyclists in the community. This has local joggers fuming with the frustration of the promises of future stress fractures. (Never fear, Obama’s about to take care of those too. You may have to wait in long lines, but the governments going to provide healthcare for all. I really don’t see what’s the worry!)

"Should the Frisco Trail be paved, we runners will lose our escape from the knee- and back-breaking asphalt and concrete streets and greenways of Springfield. I've feared that this would happen because in all the places I've lived, I keep seeing great running trails ruined over and over again by those who do not understand their value," said Missouri State University cross country running coach Greg Hipp.

The nearly $350,000 paving project is said to be good for the community, according to Ozark Greenways Executive Director Terry Whaley, who claims trail usage has gone up 300% since other parts of the trail were paved. Then he says the stupidest most dangerous thing you can say about these bicycle trails, and as a cyclist who regularly used similar trails in Chicago, I can’t help but warn people these trails aren’t for young children on tricycles.

"Senior citizens are on the trail now. Families with young children on tricycles can use the paved trail. It's much more acceptable to a larger number of people," he said. "We estimate that trail use tripled after we paved it."

Just a side note, parents who place their kids on tricycles, training wheel bicycles, and battery-powered, pink Barbie Corvettes often don’t teach children to be aware of their surroundings and trail traffic. One day a child is going to get seriously hurt or die because they swerve into the path of an adult on the bicycle. That’s where the real threat of injury comes. I can’t tell you how many times I have ridden the trails in Chicago and found myself going head on with a child who swerved across the yellow line into my path. Of course, there are goofy adults wearing iPods that don’t pay attention to ‘on your left’ either and will walk right in front of you. I have hit a few of them on my bike, and they always seem dumbfounded by it.

Of course none of this is asking any of the questions that should be asked. I mean we can listen to Missouri State cross country runners cry about the changes all day long, which are featured in today’s Springfield News-Leader, but the real pain of this is what long-term jobs have been created with this careless use of stimulus money. This country is going into debt at a pace faster than any other time in our history, and we are worried about stress fractures!

The stimulus package was sold to create jobs, which it hasn’t. Unemployment has risen by three percentage points since its passage, and it’s now wonder why. It’s being used for trivial projects, which we find once again with this rails to trails project.