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P.O. Box 7129
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Rural states want highway bill
to address their needs

Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune
PIERRE, S.D. - Rural states, where distances are great but traffic is light, are working to make sure they do not get short shrift in the next federal highway bill.

"Most of what we're hearing, and in some cases all we're hearing, is the emphasis for taking care of infrastructure where there is a lot of urban congestion, port congestion," said South Dakota Transportation Secretary Judith Payne. "We simply haven't heard much about rural interests."

Payne will present the rural states' point of view Wednesday at a hearing in Minneapolis held by the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. A written statement has been submitted on behalf of South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

Francis Ziegler, director of the North Dakota Transportation Department, agrees work is needed to deal with congestion in big cities and port areas but that rural highways also must be maintained so grain and other farm products can get to the coast states.

North Dakota ranks No. 1 in the production of at least a dozen agricultural products, including flaxseed, spring wheat, barley and sunflowers, he said.

"We in America need to make sure that rural America is not forgotten," said Ziegler, who also will address the study panel.

The commission, headed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, is holding hearings around the nation to develop a plan for highways and other surface transportation systems. The panel will report to Congress later this year.

Congress is expected to consider the recommendations when it writes the next six-year federal highway bill in 2009.

The five Western states stress the need for continued strong federal financial support for highways in the area. The study commission has talked about using tolls or private investment as a way to finance highways, but the states say toll roads won't work in rural areas.

North Dakota motorists would simply find other routes to avoid the toll, Ziegler said.
"Where would they go if they were tolled? They would probably find a route about five miles away or 10 miles away," he said, joking that much work would be needed to upgrade gravel roads and the dirt paths found in some rural areas.

A written statement by the five states says, "while public-private partnerships and tolling may have a modest role in meeting transportation needs in some areas of the country, we do not have the traffic densities to make tolling even a viable option."

The national study comes while skyrocketing construction costs and little revenue growth from state and federal motor fuel taxes make it difficult for states to keep up with the need for road construction.

The Congressional Budget Office, in testimony to a House subcommittee last month, estimated the surplus in the federal highway trust fund will disappear by 2009 if spending continues at authorized levels. The highway trust fund now takes in about $40 billion a year, mostly from the 18.3-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline and the 24.3-cent-a-gallon tax on diesel fuel.

In testimony to the national study commission last month, the executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials said the highway funding crisis will grow dramatically after 2009. Rapidly increasing construction costs cannot be met by the relatively static revenue from federal fuel taxes, which were last raised in 1993, said John Horsley.

The association of state officials argues that federal highway funding should increase from the current $43 billion to $73 billion by 2015 to offset inflation, with a similar increase for mass transit funding. Options for boosting revenue include a gas-tax increase or placing a sales tax on fuel, the association has said.

Revenue from fuel taxes has been growing slowly because it is based on gallons used, and high fuel costs have forced people to cut back on driving or buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. Revenue from state fuel taxes are used to match federal money for construction projects. Ziegler said that while high petroleum costs have greatly increased the cost of road construction, fuel-tax revenue has not kept pace. That forced North Dakota to delay more than 30 percent of its planned highway improvements this year, he said.

North Dakota's cost of reconstructing asphalt highways has jumped 71 percent in the past two years, Ziegler said. The cost of rebuilding a mile of two-lane interstate has risen 37 percent, from $1.3 million to $1.8 million, in those two years, he said.

Payne said federal funding needs to be strengthened in the short term so federal highway aid is not cut below authorized levels. That could be done without a tax increase if some changes are made, such as crediting interest earned to the highway trust fund and using general federal money instead of highway funds to pay for tax credits given to some fuel users, she said.

South Dakota's highways are in good shape, but the current funding constraints mean all the Western states will struggle to maintain good roads for commercial traffic and summer tourists, Payne said. And states use their own tax revenues to clear snow and maintain the roads, she said.

"We've got a heck of a challenge," Payne said.

Officials from South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho point out that their residents pay more fuel tax than the national average, partly because rural people have to drive longer distances and use trucks on farms and ranches.

While the rural states have light traffic much of the year, they need good roads to move agricultural products, carry freight moving across the nation and cater to tourists heading to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Yellowstone National Park and other attractions, she said.

"The most important thing we're trying to do here is ensuring that rural interests don't get forgotten," Payne said.

Published 4-20-07