Senate Committee OKs highway law extension
Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:37pm EDT
By Lisa Lambert
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "A key U.S. Senate committee approved on Wednesday part of President Barack Obama's plan to keep road and highway programs operating as the fund for construction and repairs comes close to zero.
The Environment and Public Works Committee voted to extend the current transportation law, which expires on September 30, by 18 months.
The measure will be combined with one currently under consideration by the Senate Finance Committee to transfer $20 billion into the fund that provides money for highway projects, and then sent to the full chamber for a vote.
"Right now, with the Highway Trust Fund running out of funds even as we speak, the most important thing is predictability," said Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer.
The Department of Transportation has said the fund, which is supported by revenues from an 18.4 cent tax levied on each gallon of gas sold in the United States, will be empty by the end of August.
There is no corresponding extension in the House of Representatives, reflecting both Democrats' and Republicans' opposition to Obama's plan. House members prefer passing a new multi-year transportation bill.
Representative John Mica, a leading House Republican on transportation matters, called the Senate committee's vote a "prelude to a national disaster."
"This action has the unintended consequences of closing down nearly every major national infrastructure project for two years and at a time when the unemployed are crying out for the opportunity to work," he said in a statement.
But Boxer said an extension would give states certainty on funding for projects as Congress works on that bill, which includes a complete reform of how the country organizes its transportation programs.
Boxer said it would also give Congress time to find additional funding sources for highways.
In order to support the House's plan, the federal government would have to double the gas tax, Boxer said, increasing the burden on drivers during a long recession.
"Let's get real," she said.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Wednesday an extension will permit lawmakers and the administration to craft a bill "that reflects the values of what Congress wants to do and find a way to pay for it."
Obama said the $20 billion will be transferred from the general fund and he will work with Congress to find sources for repaying the amount. LaHood told reporters the administration has yet to name potential sources.
The bill the committee passed did not include any of the policy changes Obama had attached, such as how projects are selected to receive funding. That will help it pass the Senate quickly, Boxer said.
Traditionally, the U.S. Congress takes a recess in the summer and LaHood said he worried the emergency $20 billion patch will not be in place before the August break.
Still, Rep. James Oberstar, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, prefers passing a smaller stopgap and then using pressure from the deadline to spur lawmakers to finish the $450 billion multi-year plan.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce escorted 100 business leaders to Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress to pass a new multi-year transportation blueprint soon.
Companies including The Dow Chemical Company, MetLife Home Loans, and Office Depot signed a Chamber letter telling Congress that "the current program framework does not adequately support national needs."
"The Administration and Congress included vital funds for transportation in the stimulus package, but the job isn't done yet," said the Chamber's president and chief executive, Thomas Donohue, in a statement.
The U.S. stimulus plan passed in February created a surge in transportation funds for "shovel-ready" projects. Combined with the stimulus, the new funding patch will increase transportation funding by 50 percent this year, Boxer said."
(additional reporting by John Crawley)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Division Bylaw Changes
Dear TPD Members:
As TPD strives to be your go-to resource for information, grows, and develops programs, the amount of work being undertaken by the Division officers and volunteers has greatly expanded. The idea of expanding the number of elected officers for the Division has been discussed and the Division Bylaws have been modified to accomodate proposed changes aimed at transforming the office of Vice-Chair currently held by one individual to three seperate Vice-Chair offices to be held by three individuals.
Please take the time to review the proposed changes to the Division Bylaws. These can be found at http://www.apa-tpd.org/bylaw/Division_Bylaw_October_2008_Revisions.pdf.
After you have reviewed the proposed changes, please cast your vote in the poll to the right. This poll will end August 1st.
As TPD strives to be your go-to resource for information, grows, and develops programs, the amount of work being undertaken by the Division officers and volunteers has greatly expanded. The idea of expanding the number of elected officers for the Division has been discussed and the Division Bylaws have been modified to accomodate proposed changes aimed at transforming the office of Vice-Chair currently held by one individual to three seperate Vice-Chair offices to be held by three individuals.
Please take the time to review the proposed changes to the Division Bylaws. These can be found at http://www.apa-tpd.org/bylaw/Division_Bylaw_October_2008_Revisions.pdf.
After you have reviewed the proposed changes, please cast your vote in the poll to the right. This poll will end August 1st.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
New TRB 2009 "Critical Issues in Transportation" Report
TRB’s Executive Committee periodically identifies a set of critical issues in transportation to focus attention on their likely impact on the nation’s economy and quality of life.
"The 2009 Critical Issues update elevates the importance of energy and environmental issues to reflect the prominence that these topics have gained in national debates about energy security and climate change. Greater emphasis also is given to the issues of the condition and financing of infrastructure, to help policy makers prepare for the reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs that expire in 2009."
URL for copy of report:
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/general/CriticalIssues09.pdf
"The 2009 Critical Issues update elevates the importance of energy and environmental issues to reflect the prominence that these topics have gained in national debates about energy security and climate change. Greater emphasis also is given to the issues of the condition and financing of infrastructure, to help policy makers prepare for the reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs that expire in 2009."
URL for copy of report:
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/general/CriticalIssues09.pdf
Transit Operations Expenses to Be Funded Via Stimulus
Some Transit Aid May Be Freed Up for Operating Costs
Kevin Rivoli/Associated Press
Published: June 16, 2009
"For some public transit systems, the federal stimulus program seemed like an O. Henry gift. Washington sent them billions of dollars for new equipment and construction, but nothing to operate the systems they have, even as many are cutting service or raising fares.
Now Congress may be providing some relief. A provision tucked inside the latest war spending bill would allow transit agencies to spend up to 10 percent of their stimulus money on operating expenses.
“It’s really welcome news for us,” said Adella Jones, the vice president for government affairs at the St. Louis transit agency, Metro, which instituted some of the deepest transit cuts in the country earlier this year when it suspended service to 2,300 bus stops, laid off 450 workers and left many commuters in the region struggling to find new ways to get to work.
Ms. Jones said the provision would free up $4.5 million, adding to $12 million in aid that the State Legislature recently approved to reverse about a third of the cuts.
Transit ridership broke modern records last year, but many systems around the country are now struggling to make ends meet. Fares pay between only a fifth and a half of the cost of a ride on most systems, and the dismal economy has shrunk the tax collections that many systems rely on to keep their trains and buses running.
A survey last month of 98 transit agencies, conducted by the American Public Transportation Association, an industry group, found that three-quarters had either raised fares or cut service in the last year.
Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, pushed for the provision.
“This provision will ensure that elderly residents, commuters and families are not left without the transit services they rely on every day,” Ms. Murray said in a statement. “It will also protect jobs, which is the focus of the Recovery Act.”
But the change, if approved, will come after many transit agencies have already planned their budgets for the coming fiscal year.
Several agencies said they did not plan to use the money for operating expenses. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is planning to eliminate more than 300 positions and reduce some bus service to balance its budget; it plans to use its stimulus money to fix platforms, repair tracks and buy hybrid buses.
In California, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system is planning to raise fares and cut service, but does not plan to use the stimulus money for operations, a spokeswoman said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, which recently raised fares by 10 percent but avoided deep service cuts after the state agreed to help it with new taxes and fees, said it would review the option with its board if the provision was included in the final bill.
Others welcomed the flexibility. Lynne Griffith, the chief executive officer of Pierce Transit, in Washington, said in a statement that the stimulus money would allow her to retain service and save jobs despite a $10 million decline in revenue."
Kevin Rivoli/Associated Press
Published: June 16, 2009
"For some public transit systems, the federal stimulus program seemed like an O. Henry gift. Washington sent them billions of dollars for new equipment and construction, but nothing to operate the systems they have, even as many are cutting service or raising fares.
Now Congress may be providing some relief. A provision tucked inside the latest war spending bill would allow transit agencies to spend up to 10 percent of their stimulus money on operating expenses.
“It’s really welcome news for us,” said Adella Jones, the vice president for government affairs at the St. Louis transit agency, Metro, which instituted some of the deepest transit cuts in the country earlier this year when it suspended service to 2,300 bus stops, laid off 450 workers and left many commuters in the region struggling to find new ways to get to work.
Ms. Jones said the provision would free up $4.5 million, adding to $12 million in aid that the State Legislature recently approved to reverse about a third of the cuts.
Transit ridership broke modern records last year, but many systems around the country are now struggling to make ends meet. Fares pay between only a fifth and a half of the cost of a ride on most systems, and the dismal economy has shrunk the tax collections that many systems rely on to keep their trains and buses running.
A survey last month of 98 transit agencies, conducted by the American Public Transportation Association, an industry group, found that three-quarters had either raised fares or cut service in the last year.
Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, pushed for the provision.
“This provision will ensure that elderly residents, commuters and families are not left without the transit services they rely on every day,” Ms. Murray said in a statement. “It will also protect jobs, which is the focus of the Recovery Act.”
But the change, if approved, will come after many transit agencies have already planned their budgets for the coming fiscal year.
Several agencies said they did not plan to use the money for operating expenses. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is planning to eliminate more than 300 positions and reduce some bus service to balance its budget; it plans to use its stimulus money to fix platforms, repair tracks and buy hybrid buses.
In California, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system is planning to raise fares and cut service, but does not plan to use the stimulus money for operations, a spokeswoman said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, which recently raised fares by 10 percent but avoided deep service cuts after the state agreed to help it with new taxes and fees, said it would review the option with its board if the provision was included in the final bill.
Others welcomed the flexibility. Lynne Griffith, the chief executive officer of Pierce Transit, in Washington, said in a statement that the stimulus money would allow her to retain service and save jobs despite a $10 million decline in revenue."
1% of Transportation Stimulus Spent to Date (6-17-2009)
US has only spent 1 pct of transportation stimulus
Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:58am EDT
By Lisa Lambert
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - "Only a small fraction of the $15 billion available for transportation improvements from the U.S. economic stimulus plan has been spent, according to a Transportation Department report, but industry members say that rate does not signal a slowdown.
"The federal funds don't go out until, literally, the states hand in the receipts for the project at the time it's done, or at least an identified phase of the project is done," said Brian Turmail, spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America.
"It's a better measure of projects completed, or phases of projects completed ... than of work under way currently," he said of the amounts of money spent.
According to the last weekly progress report the Transportation Department posted to its Website on June 9, stimulus outlays total $151.8 million, 1 percent of the $15 billion it has pledged to spend, or "obligated," for projects.
Almost all of the $5 billion for airports in the $787 billion stimulus plan has been obligated. Some projects have yet to begin while a few are complete, said Jane Calderwood, vice president of government affairs for the Airports Council International.
"Some of the airports I've talked to started out with one project in mind," she said. But when bids for projects came in under estimates, sometimes by 30 percent, there was "some rearranging going on."
It took time for airport authorities to negotiate with the federal government and contractors in order to change to bigger projects or expand those they had originally proposed.
This month, President Barack Obama pledged to accelerate the flow of stimulus money to states.
Accomplishing that, though, appears to rest mostly on states.
Over 24 months, the Transportation Department is required to obligate $48.1 billion. Just four months in, the department has already allotted nearly a third of that.
"Every state Department of Transportation has gotten the message to streamline wherever possible," said Tony Dorsey, spokesman for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "We have to be prudent, we have to be wise, but we have to be urgent."
Dorsey said departments could dedicate more staff to stimulus projects or find areas to cut. But, he said the media, lawmakers and Obama are now pressing to concentrate road repair projects in economically distressed areas, a new expectation that increases the pressure on the tight timeline.
There are other speed bumps in the stimulus spending, said Turmail. Since they will be reimbursed, the states pay for projects up front and a few financially stressed ones had to dig through already tight budgets for dollars.
Also, he said, some construction companies are pausing because of a requirement to use equipment made in the United States. Contractors would like clarity on how closely they must hew to the provision, given that in some cases necessary equipment is not made in the country." (Editing by James Dalgleish)
Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:58am EDT
By Lisa Lambert
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - "Only a small fraction of the $15 billion available for transportation improvements from the U.S. economic stimulus plan has been spent, according to a Transportation Department report, but industry members say that rate does not signal a slowdown.
"The federal funds don't go out until, literally, the states hand in the receipts for the project at the time it's done, or at least an identified phase of the project is done," said Brian Turmail, spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America.
"It's a better measure of projects completed, or phases of projects completed ... than of work under way currently," he said of the amounts of money spent.
According to the last weekly progress report the Transportation Department posted to its Website on June 9, stimulus outlays total $151.8 million, 1 percent of the $15 billion it has pledged to spend, or "obligated," for projects.
Almost all of the $5 billion for airports in the $787 billion stimulus plan has been obligated. Some projects have yet to begin while a few are complete, said Jane Calderwood, vice president of government affairs for the Airports Council International.
"Some of the airports I've talked to started out with one project in mind," she said. But when bids for projects came in under estimates, sometimes by 30 percent, there was "some rearranging going on."
It took time for airport authorities to negotiate with the federal government and contractors in order to change to bigger projects or expand those they had originally proposed.
This month, President Barack Obama pledged to accelerate the flow of stimulus money to states.
Accomplishing that, though, appears to rest mostly on states.
Over 24 months, the Transportation Department is required to obligate $48.1 billion. Just four months in, the department has already allotted nearly a third of that.
"Every state Department of Transportation has gotten the message to streamline wherever possible," said Tony Dorsey, spokesman for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "We have to be prudent, we have to be wise, but we have to be urgent."
Dorsey said departments could dedicate more staff to stimulus projects or find areas to cut. But, he said the media, lawmakers and Obama are now pressing to concentrate road repair projects in economically distressed areas, a new expectation that increases the pressure on the tight timeline.
There are other speed bumps in the stimulus spending, said Turmail. Since they will be reimbursed, the states pay for projects up front and a few financially stressed ones had to dig through already tight budgets for dollars.
Also, he said, some construction companies are pausing because of a requirement to use equipment made in the United States. Contractors would like clarity on how closely they must hew to the provision, given that in some cases necessary equipment is not made in the country." (Editing by James Dalgleish)
Friday, June 12, 2009
From the June 12, 2009 AASHTO Journal
From the June 12, 2009 AASHTO Journal
Appropriations“The House Appropriations Committee approved allocations Tuesday for the 12 regular spending bills for Fiscal Year 2010, including raising by one-fourth the limit for the measure funding the departments of Transportation and Housing & Urban Development.
Economic Recovery
States need to step up efforts to quickly spend American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to combat increasing unemployment that remains a serious drag on the nation’s economy, President Barack Obama said Monday as the White House released a new spending plan to guide the second hundred days of the recovery package. When Georgia awarded its first road projects using federal economic recovery dollars last week, the bids came in much lower than estimates.
Authorization
With the prospect that House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders will release their blueprint for the next six-year surface transportation authorization legislation as soon as next week, numerous members are stepping up their efforts to ensure that strict environmental protection provisions are included in the draft language.
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project released Tuesday a framework for comprehensive reform of the federal surface transportation funding system, becoming the latest in a growing stack of reports to call for transforming policy in the next six-year authorization bill.
Intercity Passenger Rail
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, speaking last week at a town hall meeting in Michigan, gave his enthusiastic endorsement of turning some automobile manufacturing plants into facilities that will produce supplies needed to construct high-speed rail lines across America. Amtrak last week announced it will partner with Virginia to launch rail service between Washington and Lynchburg and add extra capacity to the existing Washington-to-Richmond line. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, this week came down in favor of using conventional rail to construct a high-speed line from southern California to Las Vegas rather than magnetic-levitation technology.
Transportation Funding
The two-month-old Build America Bonds program, created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is catching on among financially distressed state and local governments looking for cash through the credit market. A report recently issued by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in conjunction with TRIP, a Washington-based transportation research group, is likely to become a key component in the argument for a new “wheel tax” in Delaware County, IN, after an economist cited it at a recent meeting where council members took a preliminary vote in favor of the new revenue source.
The group that represents Michigan roadbuilders ramped up efforts last week to pressure state legislators to increase highway funding, noting the cancellation of 137 road and bridge projects by the Michigan Department of Transportation due to dwindling cash. Recognizing the difficulty of finding adequate resources to meet gaping transportation needs, the AASHTO Center for Excellence in Project Finance has launched a new website at www.transportation-finance.org to help identify a comprehensive set of funding and financing mechanisms that can be utilized by transportation stakeholders.
Mass Transit
Advocates for public transportation are pressing conferees on the emergency appropriations bill providing more funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to include Senate-passed language that would allow transit authorities to spend some of their federal economic recovery funds on operating expenses instead of on capital expenditures. The American Public Transportation Association’s 2009 Rail Conference will take place next week in Chicago. The agenda includes keynote opening speeches Monday by Peter Rogoff and John Szabo, newly installed heads of the federal transit and railroad agencies, respectively. State and federal officials gathered Monday in Hudson County, NJ, to break ground on what is currently the nation’s biggest public-works effort: construction of a second passenger-rail tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and Manhattan Island, New York.”
National Transportation Policy Project Releases Authorization Recommendations
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project finalized a framework for comprehensive reform of the federal surface transportation funding system. It provides for a transformation of policy in the next six-year authorization bill. The Center’s plan, “Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy,” proposes to restructure federal programs, updates formulas, and creates a performance-based system that links transportation spending to national goals of goals economic growth, connectivity, accessibility, safety, energy security, and environmental protection. The plan proposes that the states be assessed on improved access, reducing congestion, gas consumption and CO2 emissions, and increased safety through reduction in fatalities and injuries. The report reduces from 108 current areas to six core funding categories that would be mode neutral. Three categories would be formula grant programs for maintaining and enhancing connectivity, sustaining core assets, and essential access, a fourth program would award performance bonuses to states who best achieve the goals and the other two programs focus on directing money toward new infrastructure construction. Mode neutrality enables states to make their own decisions about how to spend federal money as long as their investments meet accountability standards and promote national goals.
Report and executive summary can be accessed at http://www.bpcntpp.org
Appropriations“The House Appropriations Committee approved allocations Tuesday for the 12 regular spending bills for Fiscal Year 2010, including raising by one-fourth the limit for the measure funding the departments of Transportation and Housing & Urban Development.
Economic Recovery
States need to step up efforts to quickly spend American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to combat increasing unemployment that remains a serious drag on the nation’s economy, President Barack Obama said Monday as the White House released a new spending plan to guide the second hundred days of the recovery package. When Georgia awarded its first road projects using federal economic recovery dollars last week, the bids came in much lower than estimates.
Authorization
With the prospect that House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders will release their blueprint for the next six-year surface transportation authorization legislation as soon as next week, numerous members are stepping up their efforts to ensure that strict environmental protection provisions are included in the draft language.
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project released Tuesday a framework for comprehensive reform of the federal surface transportation funding system, becoming the latest in a growing stack of reports to call for transforming policy in the next six-year authorization bill.
Intercity Passenger Rail
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, speaking last week at a town hall meeting in Michigan, gave his enthusiastic endorsement of turning some automobile manufacturing plants into facilities that will produce supplies needed to construct high-speed rail lines across America. Amtrak last week announced it will partner with Virginia to launch rail service between Washington and Lynchburg and add extra capacity to the existing Washington-to-Richmond line. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, this week came down in favor of using conventional rail to construct a high-speed line from southern California to Las Vegas rather than magnetic-levitation technology.
Transportation Funding
The two-month-old Build America Bonds program, created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is catching on among financially distressed state and local governments looking for cash through the credit market. A report recently issued by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in conjunction with TRIP, a Washington-based transportation research group, is likely to become a key component in the argument for a new “wheel tax” in Delaware County, IN, after an economist cited it at a recent meeting where council members took a preliminary vote in favor of the new revenue source.
The group that represents Michigan roadbuilders ramped up efforts last week to pressure state legislators to increase highway funding, noting the cancellation of 137 road and bridge projects by the Michigan Department of Transportation due to dwindling cash. Recognizing the difficulty of finding adequate resources to meet gaping transportation needs, the AASHTO Center for Excellence in Project Finance has launched a new website at www.transportation-finance.org to help identify a comprehensive set of funding and financing mechanisms that can be utilized by transportation stakeholders.
Mass Transit
Advocates for public transportation are pressing conferees on the emergency appropriations bill providing more funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to include Senate-passed language that would allow transit authorities to spend some of their federal economic recovery funds on operating expenses instead of on capital expenditures. The American Public Transportation Association’s 2009 Rail Conference will take place next week in Chicago. The agenda includes keynote opening speeches Monday by Peter Rogoff and John Szabo, newly installed heads of the federal transit and railroad agencies, respectively. State and federal officials gathered Monday in Hudson County, NJ, to break ground on what is currently the nation’s biggest public-works effort: construction of a second passenger-rail tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and Manhattan Island, New York.”
National Transportation Policy Project Releases Authorization Recommendations
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project finalized a framework for comprehensive reform of the federal surface transportation funding system. It provides for a transformation of policy in the next six-year authorization bill. The Center’s plan, “Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy,” proposes to restructure federal programs, updates formulas, and creates a performance-based system that links transportation spending to national goals of goals economic growth, connectivity, accessibility, safety, energy security, and environmental protection. The plan proposes that the states be assessed on improved access, reducing congestion, gas consumption and CO2 emissions, and increased safety through reduction in fatalities and injuries. The report reduces from 108 current areas to six core funding categories that would be mode neutral. Three categories would be formula grant programs for maintaining and enhancing connectivity, sustaining core assets, and essential access, a fourth program would award performance bonuses to states who best achieve the goals and the other two programs focus on directing money toward new infrastructure construction. Mode neutrality enables states to make their own decisions about how to spend federal money as long as their investments meet accountability standards and promote national goals.
Report and executive summary can be accessed at http://www.bpcntpp.org
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Michigan to cut 137 road projects
"Michigan to cut 137 road projects"
BY MATT HELMS • FREE PRESS DRIVING COLUMNIST • June 4, 2009
Updated at 4:47 p.m.
"The Michigan Department of Transportation plans to cut 137 roadwork projects off the books over the next five years because of declining revenues to pay for construction.
MDOT Director Kirk Steudle told a committee of lawmakers this week that the department will be forced to cancel $740 million in road and bridge preservation projects and other roadwork. MDOT blames longstanding declines in gas taxes and other revenues that will reach a critical point in less than two years.
“We’re facing approximately a $102-million shortfall in state revenue,” MDOT Governmental Affairs Director Ron DeCook said late this morning. “This means we will not be able to match about $576 million in federal funds in 2011.”
DeCook said MDOT had feared it would have to cut projects starting in 2010 but was spared only by refinancing bonds to cover the shortfall.
The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association is an industry group that’s part of a coalition of business, labor and government groups pushing for a doubling of spending on roads in Michigan. The group says the state is at risk of seriously falling behind after more than a decade spent improving a crumbling road system.
“It’s unthinkable to consider leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table for other states to use,” MITA spokesman Mike Nystrom said. “There are not enough revenues coming in … to do what we need to do.”
Nystrom said the state risks losing as much as $1.9 billion in federal funding through 2013 unless it finds a way to raise more money.
Among the projects MDOT removed from its 5-year plan:
• A $47-million reconstruction of Fort Street between Sibley and Goddard roads in Wayne County.
• A $44-million reconstruction of I-96 between Middlebelt and Telegraph roads in Wayne County.
• A $30-million reconstruction of Groesbeck between Hayes and 14 Mile roads in Macomb County.
-->(2 of 2)
• A $23-million widening of Telegraph Road between Vreeland and West roads in Wayne County.
• A $20.5-million resurfacing of I-94 between 23 Mile Road and the north Macomb County line.
• A nearly $20-million reconstruction of M-53 between 34 Mile Road and the north Macomb County line.
MDOT also canceled 16 bridge upgrades in metro Detroit including I-96 over Kent Lake Road in western Oakland County.
“It’s the tip of the iceberg,” DeCook said of the cuts. “We still have to find another $1.2 billion to cut” by 2013, and “if revenues continue to decline, that number – the $1.9 billion – is going to grow.”
DeCook said the state’s goal is to keep 85% of its roads in good condition. It met and surpassed an Engler-era goal of getting 90% of state roads in good shape by 2007, now standing at about 92%.
“The challenge is you can’t maintain that at that level of funding” with current methods of raising road money, DeCook said.
A plan introduced in the Legislature last month would raise $1.8 billion more a year in road revenue by 2014 through, among other measures, switching from the current 19-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline to a tax on the wholesale price, capped out at the equivalent of 34 cents per gallon. The gas tax would be phased in over five years. The other major component would nearly double the costs of vehicle registrations gradually by 2014.
Supporters say it would cost the average Michigan driver about $13 more a month.
“If we don’t do something, we will not be able to recover $600 million a year, on average, from the federal government,” DeCook said. “That money will go to other states. We’re concerned about being a donor state now. This would make us a give-away state.”
DeCook said that, by 2014, the percentage of major state roads in good condition could drop to 70%, and drivers would see significant cuts in maintenance such as replacing guardrails and signs, filling potholes, mowing grass and plowing snow."
Contact MATT HELMS: driving@freepress.com.
BY MATT HELMS • FREE PRESS DRIVING COLUMNIST • June 4, 2009
Updated at 4:47 p.m.
"The Michigan Department of Transportation plans to cut 137 roadwork projects off the books over the next five years because of declining revenues to pay for construction.
MDOT Director Kirk Steudle told a committee of lawmakers this week that the department will be forced to cancel $740 million in road and bridge preservation projects and other roadwork. MDOT blames longstanding declines in gas taxes and other revenues that will reach a critical point in less than two years.
“We’re facing approximately a $102-million shortfall in state revenue,” MDOT Governmental Affairs Director Ron DeCook said late this morning. “This means we will not be able to match about $576 million in federal funds in 2011.”
DeCook said MDOT had feared it would have to cut projects starting in 2010 but was spared only by refinancing bonds to cover the shortfall.
The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association is an industry group that’s part of a coalition of business, labor and government groups pushing for a doubling of spending on roads in Michigan. The group says the state is at risk of seriously falling behind after more than a decade spent improving a crumbling road system.
“It’s unthinkable to consider leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table for other states to use,” MITA spokesman Mike Nystrom said. “There are not enough revenues coming in … to do what we need to do.”
Nystrom said the state risks losing as much as $1.9 billion in federal funding through 2013 unless it finds a way to raise more money.
Among the projects MDOT removed from its 5-year plan:
• A $47-million reconstruction of Fort Street between Sibley and Goddard roads in Wayne County.
• A $44-million reconstruction of I-96 between Middlebelt and Telegraph roads in Wayne County.
• A $30-million reconstruction of Groesbeck between Hayes and 14 Mile roads in Macomb County.
-->(2 of 2)
• A $23-million widening of Telegraph Road between Vreeland and West roads in Wayne County.
• A $20.5-million resurfacing of I-94 between 23 Mile Road and the north Macomb County line.
• A nearly $20-million reconstruction of M-53 between 34 Mile Road and the north Macomb County line.
MDOT also canceled 16 bridge upgrades in metro Detroit including I-96 over Kent Lake Road in western Oakland County.
“It’s the tip of the iceberg,” DeCook said of the cuts. “We still have to find another $1.2 billion to cut” by 2013, and “if revenues continue to decline, that number – the $1.9 billion – is going to grow.”
DeCook said the state’s goal is to keep 85% of its roads in good condition. It met and surpassed an Engler-era goal of getting 90% of state roads in good shape by 2007, now standing at about 92%.
“The challenge is you can’t maintain that at that level of funding” with current methods of raising road money, DeCook said.
A plan introduced in the Legislature last month would raise $1.8 billion more a year in road revenue by 2014 through, among other measures, switching from the current 19-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline to a tax on the wholesale price, capped out at the equivalent of 34 cents per gallon. The gas tax would be phased in over five years. The other major component would nearly double the costs of vehicle registrations gradually by 2014.
Supporters say it would cost the average Michigan driver about $13 more a month.
“If we don’t do something, we will not be able to recover $600 million a year, on average, from the federal government,” DeCook said. “That money will go to other states. We’re concerned about being a donor state now. This would make us a give-away state.”
DeCook said that, by 2014, the percentage of major state roads in good condition could drop to 70%, and drivers would see significant cuts in maintenance such as replacing guardrails and signs, filling potholes, mowing grass and plowing snow."
Contact MATT HELMS: driving@freepress.com.
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