Former U.S. Congressman Jim Oberstar spoke to a large group of people at the kickoff for Moving Matters last week and then went for a half hour hike with about 20 people. Just before the walk he talked with Kristin DeArruda-Wharton (far right), Sharon Berglund, and on his left, Shannon McGrath, a senior transportation planner for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, who also addressed the crowd.
When Jim Oberstar speaks, the rubber hits the road. And never more so than when he talks about biking and hiking, two sports he has enjoyed his entire adult life.
Well, sport maybe isn’t the right word— Oberstar hikes and bikes for transportation as well as recreation.
Looking dapper and fit, the 79-year-old, 18-term former Minnesota 8th District U.S. congressman was the keynote speaker for the Moving Matters kick-off held September 19, 2013 at the Cook County Community Center.
“Moving Matters is a new countywide project that is sponsored by the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic that is working to create safe and accessible walking and biking routes for all people,” said Kristin DeArruda Wharton, an RN at the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic and the coordinator for Moving Matters in Cook County.
In 2005 Oberstar co-sponsored and helped pass the SAFETEA-LU Act, a $295 billion program that funds infrastructure including highways, bridges and public transportation, such as buses, subways and funding for the Safe Routes to School Program. From 2007 to 2011 he chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee where he continued to champion the nationwide creation of trails for hiking and cycling to promote active living lifestyles.
Oberstar was greeted by the Cook County High School band and opening remarks by Cook County Commissioner Bruce Martinson. Martinson said one word describes Jim Oberstar when it comes to his service to the county: “friend.”
Martinson added that 11,000 schools in America now take part in the Safe Routes to School Program and that Oberstar practiced what he preached when it came to biking and walking.
Addressing a crowd of about 30 people, Oberstar talked about the physical and emotional benefits of walking and biking, as well as the environmental impact non-motorized travel will have on the planet.
“We spend $3 trillion on cars, insurance and liability. So when you hear that we don’t have enough money for hiking or biking trails, ask why? What value do we place on children and the elderly? Grand Portage won’t make decisions without asking their elders. What about us?
“Why can’t cities slow down cars? Twice a day air quality around schools is bad because of all of the cars idling. We need to incorporate public health with land use planning and help make active living by design,” Oberstar said.
Oberstar noted that Cambridge, Minnesota was one of 25 cities selected to take part in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to promote active living.
“Children and parents in Isanti and Cambridge said, ‘We want something different.’ It’s only three miles to school. They asked me to help them get an $800,000 grant that would get the trail done,” said Oberstar of the trail first proposed by high school students in 1988.
Citing the bike paths in New York City and displaying slides of people biking in a bike lane on Broadway, Oberstar said, “If they can do it in New York City, we can do it in Cook County.”
So far bike and hiking paths have taken 96,000 vehicles off of the roads, said Oberstar, “helping to clean up the air as people get fit walking and using non-motorized transportation.”
Besides positive physical and environmental aspects of biking, “economically, 35,000 jobs can be tied directly to the biking industry in Minnesota,” Oberstar said.
While non-motorized paths have long been a staple in Europe and Scandinavian countries, England has taken the next step in transforming its transportation system, Oberstar said.
Great Britain’s 2009 initiative to develop sustainable low carbon travel is something to watch, Oberstar said. The program to date has reduced carbon emissions, improved the health of citizens taking part, alleviated congested roads and improved air quality and has tied education, housing, economic development and social inclusion into its design in several cities called Sustainable Travel Destination Towns, he said.
“How we age is 30 percent genetics and 70 percent under our direct control,” Oberstar told the crowd before heading out the door on a walk with about 20-25 people.
And then they headed out into the nice sunshine, Jim getting around fine on a hip he had replaced five years ago. “It’s an old football injury. I quit percussion in the band to play football in 10th grade. I should have stuck with playing the drums,” he said laughing.
Following the walk the Stonebridge Singers Drum of Grand Portage performed. Students came after school to participate in Gaga Ball, a fast action game hosted by Emily Marshall, director of the Cook County YMCA.
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