AASHTO Journal, 30 January 2015
The Idaho Transportation Board and Idaho Transportation Director Brian Ness are telling state lawmakers and the public that money is not available to expand highways or bridges, and state funding soon will not keep pace with projected repair needs to keep infrastructure in good shape.
Ness Photo/ITDThe board met Jan. 22 in a joint session with the state House and Senate transportation committees, telling lawmakers that a Governor’s Task Force on Modernizing Transportation Funding found Idaho has a $543 million annual shortfall in transportation funding and needs $262 million a year just to preserve the system in its current condition.
“The state’s transportation system is vital to Idaho’s economy,” said Board Chairman Jerry Whitehead, “and it’s crucial we address the issue before the transportation infrastructure deteriorates to the point it becomes a liability rather than an asset. Without investment, it will be very difficult to meet our goals in regard to pavement and bridge condition.”
Ness briefed lawmakers in detail, and said the Idaho Transportation Department had saved $80 million in recent years by restructuring bonds and cutting staff.
But he said federal funding now provides 54 percent of Idaho’s transportation revenue, a reverse from 1996 when state funds covered 54 percent of ITD spending.
That was also the last time Idaho increased its “user fee for fuel” to 25 cents a gallon with no inflation adjustment, Ness said, but “unfortunately, our costs are steadily increasing.” Since then, he said, the agency’s buying power has shrunk by 26 percent.
However, bridges on the state highway system were built to last 40 to 60 years and Idaho already has nearly 800 that are more than 50 years old, Ness told lawmakers.
With current funding, he said the ITD planned to replace 87 highway bridges through 2019 that have outlived their useful life. However, “despite those replacements another 147 bridges will reach the half-century mark” and in 2019 there will be 908 bridges older than 50 years – nearly half of all bridges on the state system.
He said while the agency will restrict traffic on or close bridges before they become dangerous, that has a cost as well. “Restricted bridges hinder the economy by forcing trucks to either make long detours or carry smaller loads … Bridge restrictions ensure public safety, but they also impede commerce.”
Ness said highway pavement and roadbeds are also deteriorating. He noted that the 2009 federal stimulus program “temporarily increased the condition rating of Idaho’s highways. But the program ended, and pavement condition is once again deteriorating.”
Whitehead and Ness both emphasized that spending now saves much more money in the future by avoiding costlier later construction when roads or bridges need extensive upgrades. For instance, providing the ITD with another $262 million a year to cover its shortfall and maintain current roadway conditions, he said, could equal up to $3.6 billion in eventual annual spending to repair or replace infrastructure that would fall into poor condition.
That argument reportedly had some impact on the lawmakers, who could decide whether to raise fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees.
Sen. Bert Brackett, who chairs his chamber’s transportation committee, told Idaho’s KTVB News after the ITD presentation: “We’re a conservative state but failure to do maintenance, timely maintenance, is a form of deficit spending, because it’s going to cost more. If we don’t do timely maintenance then we’re looking at reconstruction.”