More Dollars Means More Sense Needed in Running Projects
There is little rest for the weary advocates who fought for passage of a $286.5-billion, six-year federal highway and transit funding bill. Officials were able to moveahead with planning their five-year programs once the 22-month-delayed Safe,Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) was enacted in August. But with challenges to the fund’s fuel tax base, plus an increasing emphasis on new project delivery meth-ods and private-sector participation, it isnot just business as usual for owners.
“We are clearly at a crossroads withthe federal program,” says Gene Mc-Cormick, chairman of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. ARTBA already is gearing up for the reauthorization fight in 2009, but congressional suggestions to repealthe fuel tax and siphon money off the highway bill already havethe advocacy group putting its dukes up. While the congressional efforts don’t seem likely to succeed, construction advocates are nevertheless fighting the perception of “pork barrel” projects and trying to stoke public support.