Experts say Obama's visit won't help bridge
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Experts say Obama's visit won't help bridge
By: Malia Rulon, Cincinnati Enquirer
WASHINGTON - A presidential visit is a big
deal, but will it actually guarantee funding for the aged and
overused Brent Spence Bridge?
Not really, say transportation experts and highway
officials.
That's not how highway funding works. When you consider the
partisan bickering over the president's jobs bill and the stalled
federal transportation bill, the bridge looks no closer to getting
the $2.4 billion needed to replace it than before it caught the
White House's attention.
First, there's the president's jobs bill, which is the reason
for his trip. In his joint address to Congress on Sept. 8, Obama
called on Congress to immediately pass his plan. But the bill has
received a lukewarm reception on the Hill, where even Democrats
haven't rallied around it.
The bill itself contains no mention of the Brent Spence bridge,
or any other specific projects. Even if the bill is passed, it's
not clear funding included in the bill for stimulus or the creation
of a national infrastructure bank would ever reach the bridge.
That's because if the point of the jobs bill is to create jobs
now, then the Brent Spence Bridge may make a nice backdrop for a
speech, but it's not the best example of a shovel-ready
project.
According to highway officials in Ohio and Kentucky, the bridge
is still in the preliminary engineering and environmental clearance
phase. In a best case scenario, the earliest that workers would be
hired would be in 2013, but more likely 2015.
Would the White House step in to speed up the process?
"We would move it as quickly as we possibly could. But every
project has to be evaluated on its merits," White House
Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer told the Enquirer,
acknowledging that the bridge itself isn't actually named in the
president's bill.
"No, no, no. It doesn't name (the bridge)," Pfeiffer said,
explaining that the money would go to states and communities to use
as they see fit.
So what about the federal transportation bill?
This is the traditional way state highway and bridge projects of
this size get built. But the last six-year transportation bill
expired in 2009 and Congress has been passing short-term extensions
ever since. The next extension expires in March 2012, which is in
the middle of presidential primary season. Transportation experts
agree the bill will likely continue to get delayed until 2013 at
the earliest.
With the federal government trying to cut costs, the next
highway bill could actually cut funding to states.
"Historically, Congress loves the surface transportation bill
because everyone gets a little bit," said Joshua Schank, CEO of the
Eno Transportation Foundation and an urban planner who has been
working on federal and state transportation policy for the last
decade. But when you've got a situation of where you are deciding
who gets cut more, what's the incentive for Congress to act?"
Justin Harclerode, a spokesman for the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, said House lawmakers have talked about
the bill in outline form, but the bill hasn't yet been
introduced.
He added that although it's great that the Brent Spence Bridge
is getting presidential attention, that doesn't mean the project
will get any special attention in this bill.
"The surface transportation reauthorization that Congress is
developing will not contain specific project earmarks, so funding
specifically for this bridge or any other individual project won't
appear in that legislation," he said.
He added: "Most revenues available through this legislation will
be returned to state DOTs, and decisions about how to allocate
those federal transportation dollars will be left to their
discretion."
The Brent Spence Bridge is on the Ohio Department of
Transportation's list of major state projects. But there are at
least a dozen other projects also on that list, said Stefan
Spinosa, design engineer for ODOT's District 8.
"This project would fall into the process along with all the
other projects in the state," Spinosa said. The projects aren't
ranked and each has merit, he said.
Even with federal funding, Ohio and Kentucky would have to come
up with a state match of 10 to 20 percent. Ohio has set aside about
$27 million so far, Spinosa said, but Kentucky only appropriates
highway funding in two-year cycles.
"You can plan for it, but it someone wants to know if Kentucky
has the money sitting in the bank, the answer is no. I mean, you
could, but it would be sitting there for years," said Chuck Wolfe,
spokesman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Wolfe said there is a misconception among the public that the
state can just run out at a moment's notice and build a bridge or a
road and that's just not the case.
"The public doesn't see the many years that go into a project,
starting with the early design phase, which can take years," he
said.
And a presidential visit doesn't change any of that.
"No, I don't see (the president's visit) getting funding for the
bridge," transportation expert Schank said. "Where they do the
photo-op in a presidential election season usually doesn't have
much value in terms of directing the money."
For a related story, visit
ENQUIRER EXCLUSIVE: Thank Boehner, McConnell for Obama's
visit.