Editorial: Two More Funding Reminders
This Editorial appears in the Sept. 30 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
For countless years, we have written about the United States’ dire need of a long-term transportation funding source.
Recent events in two states, both covered in this edition of Transport Topics, serve as reminders of the consequences we face if the federal government does not act.
Officials in Wisconsin last week closed the 33-year-old Leo Frigo Bridge in Green Bay after a section suddenly started to sag. An investigation was ongoing as TT went to press, but the state suggested the bridge along Interstate 43 could be closed for as long as a year.
The incident took place months after a section of the Skagit River bridge collapsed in Washington state and more than six years after the deadly I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota.
The same day as the Wisconsin bridge closing, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said she wants to end the per-gallon federal fuel taxes that truckers and others pay at the pump.
During a hearing of the panel that will write the next highway funding bill, she suggested taxes at the oil refinery level, a wholesale tax on oil distributers or sales taxes may all be better alternatives to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent.
Her comments, praised by American Trucking Associations and other groups, came days before the 20th anniversary of the last time the government raised federal per-gallon taxes on diesel fuel and gasoline.
As those events were unfolding, Colorado was still reeling from what scientists are calling “unprecedented” flooding earlier this month. Gov. John Hickenlooper estimates at least 50 bridges will need significant repairs, and about 200 highway lane miles will need reconstruction.
He has asked Congress to lift the $100 million relief cap on disasters.
In one particularly hard-hit area in Colorado, UPS and FedEx told TT they are traveling a dirt road to deliver medical and other supplies. As a result, a trip that normally takes a little over two hours can now clock in at seven hours, according to a FedEx senior manager.
Of course, there is no way for the United States to fully prepare for natural disasters. But like the series of bridge incidents, there have been a number of recent disasters — Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy come to mind — that required the government to cough up millions of dollars to help repair roads and bridges.
With the current highway funding law set to expire in a year, we can only hope the events in Wisconsin and Colorado will finally lead to decisive action on funding — for the sake of all highway users.
