They both agree on the need for improved inspection standards and a better way of deciding which bridges get fixed first. But comments at a Sept. 5 hearing show House transportation committee Chairman James Oberstar and Transportation Secretary Mary Peters remain sharply divided over the Minnesota Democrat's proposed new trust fund, financed by a gas-tax hike, to fix deficient bridges.
A week after the Aug. 1 collapse of the Interstate-35 W bridge in Minneapolis that left 13 dead, Oberstar proposed a new fund, supported by a gas-tax increase or other new revenue, to repair or replace the 6,175 structurally deficient bridges on the Interstate system and other key arterial highways. He said he wants it to be a temporary program, lasting three years. Each one-cent boost in the motor fuels tax would raise an estimated $1.7 billion a year.