The original highway program, which was signed into law by President Eisenhower in 1956, was designed to achieve an important national objective, the creation of an interstate highway system capable of supporting the nation’s economy. This necessarily involved subsidizing infrastructure development in some states at the expense of others to complete a comprehensive network to facilitate interstate commerce and travel.

The interstate highway system was completed some time ago – yet such cross-subsidies continue. Arizona was a much different place when the highway program was begun: sparsely populated, slow growing. Today, it is one of the fastest growing states in the nation, yet the formula for allocating federal gas tax revenues has failed to keep pace. As a result, Arizona continues to receive less than its fair share of funding for transportation infrastructure.

When I was elected to the Senate, Arizona received just 86 cents out of every dollar in gas tax revenue it sent to Washington, D.C. to put back into highway improvement projects in the state. Since then, surface transportation programs have been reauthorized twice – in 1998 and again last year. Senator McCain and I fought hard to increase Arizona’s share of federal highway money, and now the state will receive more – 92 cents on the dollar. That’s an improvement, but still not good enough. Arizonans deserve their fair share.

To mitigate the continuing inequity in the funding formula, I’ve fought to secure additional amounts for the state’s transportation needs in the regular spending bills that Congress considers.

These are some of the projects that I worked to win funding for in recent years:

For Fiscal Year 2006:

• $6 million for construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge;
• $3.25 million for Taxiway Reconstruction at Sky Harbor
• $3 million for improvements at Deer Valley Airport
• Tucson Sun Tran alternative fuel bus replacement, $1.5 million
• Tucson Wash Crossings Improvement, $100,000

For Fiscal Year 2005:

• $10 million for construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge;
• $3.5 million for taxiway improvements at Sky Harbor Airport;
• $1.3 million to relocate a heliport at Chandler Municipal Airport, as recommended in an FAA noise study;
• $12.3 million for four ValleyMetro bus projects:
• $6.950 million for the Tempe/Scottsdale East operating facility;
• $3.5 million for the Phoenix/Glendale West operating facility;
• $340,800 for a Phoenix Dial-a-Ride facility;
• $1.5 million for 34 new clean-fuel buses for Phoenix; and
• $1 million for Tucson Alternative Fuel Bus Replacement.

The 2005 transportation funding bill also included a provision that I coauthored with Senators McCain and Harry Reid of Nevada to name the new Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge in honor of Pat Tillman, a former star of the Arizona Cardinals who valiantly gave his life in defense of freedom in Afghanistan. (The bridge will also bear the name of former Nevada Governor O’Callaghan.)

For Fiscal Year 2004:

• $7 million for the construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge;
• $2.75 million for infrastructure improvements at the Mariposa port (Cyberport);
• $1.05 million for access-road development for the San Luis secondary port;
• $5.658 million to replace the air-traffic control tower at Deer Valley Airport;
• $3 million for center modifications and for the replacement, rehabilitation and purchase of buses and related equipment and the construction of bus-related facilities at the Tucson Ronstadt Transit Center;
• $3.5 million for the Tucson Fiber Optic Signal Interconnect System;
• $2 million for the Mesa bus operating facility;
• $5 million for the Tempe/Scottsdale East Valley bus operating facility;
• $5 million for the Phoenix/Glendale West Valley operating facility;
• $1 million for the Phoenix/Regional heavy bus maintenance facility;
• $2.25 million for runway construction and taxiway repair at Williams Gateway Airport; and
• $600,000 for transportation planning, research and development at the University of Arizona Center for Integrated Transportation and Traffic Systems.

For Fiscal Year 2003:

• $11.5 million for construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge;
• $8 million for buses and bus facilities in Phoenix;
• $4 million for the downtown Tucson intermodal center; and
• $2.8 million for Tucson Sun Tran buses and facilities.

More Arizona Initiatives press material

Senator Kyl Legislation:
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