Local projects threatened as federal transportation dollars begin to dry

May 12, 2014

Funds for a Larkspur ferry bicycle and pedestrian overpass and a Golden Gate Bridge suicide barrier could be in jeopardy if the federal Highway Trust Fund runs out of money, which could happen by August.

The lack of funding could set back or shut down projects across the country, force widespread layoffs of construction workers and delay needed repairs and improvements.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, hopped a Golden Gate Transit bus from Petaluma down Highway 101 to the San Rafael Transit Center on Monday to draw attention to a need for a financial fix to keep highway and other work going.

"We have to do something soon because this Highway Trust Fund will start going into the red this summer and it will only get worse," said Huffman, as buses rumbled in and out of the Transit Center.

If that happens, the government will have to slow down or even halt payments to states, which rely on federal aid for most major highway projects. Uncertainty over whether there will be enough funding in the coming months is already causing officials in California to consider delaying planned projects.

Locally, funding could dry up for the new bridge to be built above Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to connect Larkspur Landing and the ferry terminal, and for Novato Narrows widening utility work. Funds for a planned suicide barrier could also be put in limbo. The latter is considered a transportation safety issue.

"We are nervous because we are lining up money for a suicide barrier project and we will get funding through the state, but we will be issued an IOU if the Highway Fund is broke," said Denis Mulligan, bridge general manager.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is promoting President Obama's four-year, $302 billion plan to shore up the trust fund with savings from proposed changes to corporate tax laws. The White House has said as much as $150 billion could come from its proposal to close corporate loopholes, such as ones that encourage U.S. companies to invest overseas.

While Huffman supports the plan, he would like to see a long-term fix to the problem and supports a carbon tax.

"Rather than a Band-Aid or a dip occasionally into the general fund, we need to think about a replacement for the gas tax," Huffman said.

A carbon tax would be revenue neutral — not designed to do anything but raise money for transportation needs — and be paid at the fuel production level. Those who produce carbon-heavy fuels, such as coal, would pay more than purveyors of less carbon-intensive energy, such as electric vehicle providers, Huffman explained.

"Our challenge is to look at a carbon-based way to fund this," the congressman said.

But former Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told reporters last week that "what seems to be coming forward as a consensus is a piece of tax reform" rather than shifting money from the general treasury or raising fuel taxes.

The interstate highway program, launched in 1956, has been funded primarily through federal gas and diesel taxes under the principle that users of the system should pay for its construction and maintenance.

But it's been clear for nearly a decade that fuel taxes haven't been keeping pace with transportation needs as the nation's population grows and its roads and bridges age. The 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gas tax was last increased in 1993.


Source: By Mark Prado