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John Petro

State Wish Lists: Stimulus Funds for Road Expansion

From the U.S. PRIG, via Streetsblog: Congress asked states to submit lists of transportation infrastructure projects that are "ready to go" for the stimulus package. Unfortunately, many states are looking to greatly expand road capacity.

U.S. PIRG just released a great report [PDF] outlining what's known so far (most states haven't even gone public with their requests). Here are some updates since the last time we checked in on these wish lists:

* The Texas ask includes a whopping $6 billion for roads (97 percent of the total wish list), including $3.4 billion for expansion projects.
* North Carolina is just as brazen, asking for $5 billion for roads, of which $3.4 billion would fund expansion.
* South Carolina wants to spend nearly all of its $3.2 billion ask on roads, 80 percent on expansion.
* New York pretty much splits the difference between roads and transit, asking for about $1.8 billion for each (the analysis does not break down the road requests by expansion and maintenance)

I'll say it again: stimulus funds for roads should be restricted to maintenance and repair. We should not be expanding roads during a time of historic declines in vehicle miles traveled. The U.S. PRIG report also suggests allowing stimulus funds to go to transit agencies for operating costs, a good idea since it will allow these agencies to prevent layoffs and even expand employment and service.

Streetsblog also links to an online petition by Transportation for America "urging Congress to impose oversight on states and avoid throwing money down the sinkhole of new highway capacity."

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Posted at 4:04 PM, Jan 07, 2009 in Transporation
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