Becker Returns from Mayors' Innovation Project

Aug 04, 2008 by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker just got back from a meeting with about 40 other mayors from across the country in Madison, Wisconsin, called the Mayors' Innovation Project. Becker says he had great things to share about Salt Lake's public transportation system, but also learned a lot from what Madison itself is doing with bike transportation.

"They have so many bikes going up and down their streets and along their bikeways, they're trying to figure out how to provide more bike parking downtown," he said. "It's interesting to go to a place that really a few years ago didn't necessarily have a great bikeway system, but they've invested in it, they've paid attention to it, they've devoted some people to spending their time within the community and within city government."

Expanding bikeways has been a top priority for Becker, who dedicated $500,000 of the city's budget to that purpose.

But the mayor doesn't want anyone to get the impression that he's ignoring the city's drivers.

"I'm spending a lot of time these days with Governor Huntsman and Mayor Corroon trying to get our signal synchronization working," said Becker. "I probably get more comments about traffic signal synchronization than anything else in my interaction with people, and I can tell you our transportation folks are focused on it. I think people are starting to see some results on certain streets, and that's just going to expand."

The Mayors' Innovation project Becker just returned from also focused on growing local food and maintaining affordable housing as cities develop. To listen to a conversation with the mayor about his trip, download a podcast of today's Public Square.

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