President Donald Trump's transportation department has been pulling back grants already announced for recreational trails and bicycle lanes, telling local officials their projects fail to promote road capacity or are “hostile to motor vehicles.”

The department recently sent letters to local governments in at least six states — Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Mexico — informing them it was withdrawing money awarded under the $1.1 trillion infrastructure law former President Joe Biden signed in 2021.

The reversals are among the clearest signals yet of the drastic shift from the Biden administration's emphasis on alternative transportation, such as transit and biking, to the Trump administration's focus on preserving and expanding lanes for cars and trucks.

While the new grants Trump's transportation department announced this year reflect that change, it's practically unprecedented for an administration to claw back grants awarded by a predecessor without a compelling reason, such as potential environmental harms. However, the latest recalled projects didn't have fully funded grant agreements in place, which would have made reversing them far trickier.

The transportation department's press office didn't respond to emails requesting comment.

Prioritizing roads, not trails

Connecticut won a $5.7 million federal grant last summer to help design segments of a 44-mile (71-kilometer) recreational trail connecting several communities along the Naugatuck River.