Highway Funding to Rise

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration, apparently giving in to congressional and state pressure, agreed last week to put money back into the 2003 budget for highways, but Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta would not publicly commit to a specific amount.

The House Budget Committee approved a budget resolution March 13 that would restore more than half of the $8.5 billion cut by the administration in its original proposal for road and bridge projects.

The same day Mineta told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, “We are working closely with [the White House] to come up with alternatives” to the administration’s budget.

For the full story, see the March 18 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.