UDOT chief blasts 'stingy' Congress

WASHINGTON — Congress is being stingy and unfair with federal highway money, Utah Department of Transportation Director John Njord and three other state directors said at a news conference here Tuesday.

More than $300 billion in federal highway money must be freed up and the Transportation Equity Act must be signed by President Bush by April to have much impact this year, the transportation officials said, placing blame squarely on Congress for states losing big revenue and thousands of jobs.

"In the construction industry, our schedule doesn't necessarily follow congressional timetables," Njord told the news media gathered to hear the directors and private industry representatives. "Our construction schedule follows the timetable of Mother Nature."

Utah, like many other states, can only work on highway projects from mid-April to mid October, Njord said. And the failure of Congress to reauthorize the act allocating highway monies collected from the federal gas tax has left states in limbo.

It's been almost a year and a half since the last six-year reauthorization expired. Since then, Congress has appropriated highway money on an annual stop-gap basis. That has hamstrung the states because highway projects are usually multi-year endeavors. And the uncertainty of money next year makes it unlikely the states will begin projects this year.

In Utah, the unpredictable funding has delayed I-15 construction in Davis and Utah counties as well as Mountain View, a major belt route in southwest Salt Lake County.

"We've got 1,700 bridges in Utah, 500 of which need to be replaced," Njord said. "But we can't even start until we know what resources we have to pay for it."

Transportation officials released a report saying the congressional delays have cost the states $2.1 billion and 90,000 jobs.

Speaking at a press conference at the National Press Club, Njord said that a reauthorization is needed by April or Utah will lose yet another construction season. It simply takes too long to get highway projects up and running, and Utah is running out of patience, he said.

Highway officials are seeking a six-year authorization pegged at $318 billion — the projected amount of gasoline tax revenue over that period. Njord said it would allow states a "modest increase" over current funding levels to keep up with inflation, now running at more than 13 percent a year because of soaring fuel, asphalt and steel prices.