Expand Highways as 160,570 Bridges Await Collapse: Economic Stimulus for New Haven?

Today the House Democrats' Committee on Appropriations released a draft of their proposed federal stimulus package. A PDF summary of the plan can be downloaded here. According to the report, the government plan is part of a "concerted effort to create and save three to four million jobs, jump-start our economy, and begin the process of transforming it for the 21st century.”

The plan trumpets its $275 billion in tax cuts, plus hundreds of billions in other spending including $90 billion in infrastructure, $87 billion for Medicaid costs, and $54 billion to encourage renewable energy production. Yet it remains to be seen what impact the bill would have on the lives of everyday residents of urban areas such as Downtown New Haven or Downtown Hartford, such as with job training for striving families or potentially-disasterous pending cuts to integrated school programs, or if this outlay will do what it does while also helping to reduce pollution, create jobs, promote public health and safety, and address the nation's crumbling infrastructure and unsustainable transportation policies.

As Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd recently pointed out in the New York Times, no less than 160,570 bridges across the country are currently in as bad of a shape as the Minneapolis bridge which collapsed in August 2007, killing 13 and injuring over 100 (shown in photograph).

Unfortunately, according to the draft plan, the vast majority of the $40 billion in transportation funds would most likely go towards expanding superhighways in places like the deserts of Utah, not investing in the types of 21st-century infrastructure that can get the residents of the nation's major metropolitan areas to work efficiently, safely and without owning a car -- even though over 40% of New Haven residents commute by means other than private automobile. Despite all the evidence that transit-oriented development creates jobs by dramatically saving large numbers of people time and commuting expenses, the stimulus bill seems more like it is shaping up to be a recipe for oil company profits than for smarter growth in metropolitan areas like New Haven.

Bottom line is that it appears that Congress believes that highways should be expanded even as bridges across the country continue to catastrophically fail and crumble; even as families, children and senior citizens literally find it impossible to walk more than a couple of blocks in their own neighborhoods due to the lack of proper pedestrian facilities; and even as many major cities less than 30 miles apart - like Hartford, Waterbury and New Haven - continue to have absolutely no viable mass transportation connections.

Let's look a little more closely at the actual proposals. The amount of deferred maintenance on highways and bridges is almost incalculable. To give a local example, two critical projects affecting literally tens of thousands of residents and businesses in New Haven on a day-to-day basis -- the State Street Bridge (in "serious condition" and about to fail) and the reconstruction of Quinnipiac Avenue -- were recently postponed after the crumbling Ferry Street Bridge had to be closed for urgent repairs that ended up costing nearly $20 million. The stimulus includes absolutely no guarantee that funding would be used on projects like these. On the transit side, the stimulus package will include only $2 billion in mass transit repairs, even though the Congress itself calculates that at least $50 billion is needed for basic maintenance, and agrees with almost every major policy analyst that functioning transit connections would do more to stimulate job growth than anything else. As an additional consideration, Bruce Katz (mentioned earlier as a possible pick for Obama's new Office of Urban Policy) writes today that the U.S. is falling far behind other industrialized nations in this area.

According to Congressional and other high-profile sources consulted today by DNH, the stimulus package investments in Connecticut will most likely be focused on the expansion/replacement of the Q-bridge on I-95 and the expansion of the New Haven Rail Yard, both of which are seen as absolutely critical to the state's economy as a whole (particularly Fairfield County).

Unfortunately, since both of these projects are located in Downtown New Haven, other areas of the state may use them to argue that the New Haven region should receive less money within future funding streams, which theoretically would be freed up by the stimulus package. This may limit New Haven's ability to attract future funding that will truly benefit the city; despite the location of the massive new 10-lane Q-bridge under construction, many city residents argue that, with its hundreds of thousands of asthma-inducing VMTs every day, it benefits everyone except the people who actually live here.

On a potentially positive note, some of the proposed transportation stimulus funding would likely be distributed by metropolitan organizations like SCRCOG, possibly allowing for a greater degree of accountability and local control. This means that there may be an opportunity for city governments like New Haven to receive some funding for crucial items such as pedestrian, bicycle and traffic safety infrastructure (such as crosswalk striping and sight-line improvements like crosswalk "daylighting"), if they act quickly to get such projects on TIP lists. The city should complete its Complete Streets design manual and other designs (like the Union Station access plan) as soon as possible, so that such projects can be funded either immediately, or as soon as possible within upcoming appropriations.

It is possible that Congress and President Elect Obama wish to pass the stimulus package as soon as possible, even a flawed one, which would allow them to focus more time on the upcoming reauthorization of the transportation bill this summer. Already, there are rumors that the reauthorization will be significantly delayed due to the potential political battles. Even though the reauthorization is much more important, as it will set our nation's transportation policy for the next 10 years, there is no excuse for clearly misguided policies today.

Some reaction from today's blogosphere:

Congressional officials have released a draft of the federal stimulus package.... $30 billion for highways and $10 billion for transit. That's still way too much highway money.... Most of the highway money will go to new sprawl-inducing lane miles. (Greater Greater Washington)

Overall, the bill lacks any overriding ambition, and seems to be willing to provide only the modicum of funding with little attention to greater goals or even current needs. This is an early draft of legislation that still has a long way to go, so it may be too early to be making assumptions. But while this economic stimulus bill could be the foundation for a radical change in the way transportation is funded in the United States, what we’re getting here is nothing of the sort. (Transport Politic)

On the transportation front, the proposed legislation includes $30 billion for highway construction and $10 billion for transit and rail “to reduce traffic congestion and gas consumption.” To put that in perspective, if all $10 billion went to the MTA it would still fund only a third of the agency’s next five-year capital program. There is also no indication that any money would go towards bicycle or pedestrian projects. (Tri-State Transportation Campaign)

What is interesting is to note the disparities between the demand for financing and what is proposed in the bill. Whereas the bill gives about half of the financing needed for highway projects, in the areas of transit upgrade/repair and Amtrak, the proposed federal contributions are rather minimal. It is also interesting to note that the $10 billion figure is significantly lower than what Rep. James Oberstar–head of the House Transport Committee–had been calling for in recent days. He called for $12.5 billion for transit, $3.4 billion for high speed rail, and $1.5 billion for Amtrak. (HughBartling)

Historically, transit investment has been on the smaller end of an 80-20 split. While 75-25 is a step in the right direction, this is no victory for transit agencies or public transportation advocates. (2nd Ave. Sagas)

There's no indication yet as to how the highway money would be distributed, but Rep. David Obey, chair of the committee that released the draft, has publicly stated that he wants all of it funneled directly to state DOTs -- a recipe for more highway lanes, more traffic, and more pollution. The document does not mention any dedicated stream for bike or pedestrian projects. (Streetsblog)