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Issues > Transportation
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has proposed transportation funding that carries a $375 billion price tag over six years. Although it is unclear whether he will succeed in passing his proposal, it is a near certainty that wherever the dollar figure settles, the transportation bill will include a substantial amount of funding for several wasteful highway projects. TEA-21 earmarked over $9 billion for 1,850 projects. Although most of these projects received minimal funding, a handful received tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. Across the country, state highway departments are promoting huge highway projects despite the objections of local residents. Although half the nation's roadways, and nearly 70 percent of urban roadways, were in poor, mediocre, or fair condition as of 2001, a disproportionate amount of highway funds continue to flow towards expanding roads or building new, expensive, and unnecessary projects. These projects, which carry a huge price tag, also exact a devastating environmental cost. Highway construction contributes to suburban sprawl by opening areas on the metropolitan fringe - areas that had formerly been difficult to reach by car - to development. The end result is the destruction of vast and increasingly scarce areas of open space, wildlife habitat, and agricultural lands. Nationwide, an area of farms, ranges, wetlands, and forests roughly the size of Virginia has been urbanized over just the last two decades. The road projects cited in this report are only a handful of the environmentally harmful and wasteful projects that the federal government continues to fund. Unless otherwise noted, the Green Scissors Campaign opposes funding for these highways. |
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