It’s over!

After years of effort, we can claim a victory of sorts in that funding for needed state transportation projects will increase as a result of the legislature’s recent action. I can appreciate the difficulties of trying to find an additional $1.2 billion a year to improve our badly deteriorating road and transit systems, especially with a legislature that features so many diverse opinions. Remember the “pay me now or pay me a lot more later” saying? Well, had previous legislators chosen to address this issue years ago, the need could have been much less, but due to their inaction, we are in “pay me more” mode today.

An additional $1.2 billion a year more in transportation funding will improve our transportation system, but improvements will be hard to see until all of the funding gets here in 2021 – six years from now! In the meantime, our roads and bridges will continue to deteriorate faster than we will be able to improve them. It will take years until the full benefits of these dollars take effect. For example, if the full $1.2 billion took effect starting in 2017, we could have invested over $6 billion to improve our roads, bridges, and transit systems by 2021, instead of the approximately $3.5 billion that we will see as a result of this legislation over the same period of time.

This legislation does address some of the things we have been asking for, including:

• Indexing both the gas and diesel fuel tax rate to inflation beginning in 2021.
• Providing some degree of certainty for future funding, so agencies and contractors can begin to plan.
• Increasing state funding for public transit for the first time since 1987.

The legislation also contains a certain amount of uncertainty. For example:

• $600 million is supposed to come from other state programs each year and be channeled to road improvements. What programs will be cut to provide these additional transportation revenues?
• What will be the net impact on local units of governments?
• Will future legislatures continue this commitment to fund transportation?

At the end of the day, what have we accomplished? I guess time will tell, but my own immediate answer is not as much as we had hoped for. The posturing is over. The legislature and governor have acted. Our job now is to concentrate on how best to invest these dollars in the most cost effective way possible to make our transportation system the best it can be.