Third-Grader Brings Bike Lane to Montana

"When Elli was 7, she wanted to ride her bike to school. But the Giammonas live off Mullan Road. Each day, 12,000 cars go by their home, and go by fast. Her parents, Luann and John, weren't keen on their daughter biking with speeding sedans.

But Elli rode on sidewalks back when the family lived in Austin, Texas, and she wanted to know why there wasn't a sidewalk on Mullan. Sidewalks, her mother explained, are expensive."

With the help of federal stimulus money and the willingness of the city's mayor to get new projects moving, the new bike lane is under construction and likely to complete in Spring 2010.