Transportation
Total Cuts: $18.7 billion

The nation’s transportation system is broken, as the gasoline tax that each of us pays at the pump to keep the system moving falls far short of the amount needed to maintain the nation’s road and transit systems. In just the past two years, Congress has transferred some $34 billion in general tax revenues to the Highway Trust Fund to keep it solvent and reversed an $8.7 billion rescission mandated at the expiration of the last highway bill so that states and local governments can continue to spend on transportation projects. Yet all that spending does nothing to fix the fund’s underlying problems. One way to solve future shortfalls is to make the transportation program more efficient, and there are a number of proposed projects and programs that Congress should cut to take us in that direction.

Cuts Include:

Rail Line Relocation Program
Cut (over ten years): $345 million

I-710 Tunnel Project – California
Cut: $11.8 billion

Knik Arm Crossing – Alaska
Cut: $1.5 billion

St. Croix River Crossing Project/Stillwater Bridge – Minnesota and Wisconsin
Cut: $400 million

Juneau Access Road – Alaska
Cut: $500 million

Outer Bridge Portion of Ohio River Bridges Project – Indiana and Kentucky
Cut: $1.5 billion

Gravina Island Access – Alaska
Cut: $300 million

Essential Air Service (EAS) Program**
Cut: $1.63 billion*

Achieved Cuts:

Rescind Unused Transportation Earmarks
Cut: $630 million

Transportation
Total Cuts: $18.7 billion

Rail Line Relocation Program
Cut (over five years): $345 million

In the President’s FY2012 budget, he proposed cutting the Rail Line Relocation Program (which received $34.5 million in FY2010 and FY2011) because a merit-based program exists that accomplishes the same end and allows states to decide how the money should be spent.

I-710 Tunnel Project – California
Cut: $11.8 billion

The Interstate 710 tunnel outside of Los Angeles has been estimated to cost upwards of $14 billion, though estimates vary so widely as to be essentially useless. The project claims to solve congestion on portions of LA’s highway system, but those claims seem to be dubious at best. It is unclear for what portion of the project federal taxpayers will be asked to pay, but the potential for extreme cost overruns and the questionable transportation benefits make this a project that should be scrapped.

Knik Arm Crossing – Alaska
Cut: $1.5 billion

The sister project of the now infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” recently received the blessing of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which approved the final environmental assessment required before any additional work could continue. The project would link Anchorage to the sparsely populated area around Point McKenzie in the Mat-Su Valley. The project can only be built with a public-private partnership, which would be paid for through the collection of a bridge toll. But estimates of the amount of traffic that will use the bridge appear overly optimistic, and therefore the expected toll revenue is almost sure to fall short of paying for the project for many years after it is built. This would likely leave federal taxpayers on the hook for untold millions of dollars to make up the shortfall.

St. Croix River Crossing Project/Stillwater Bridge – Minnesota and Wisconsin
Cut: $400 million

The historic, two-lane Stillwater Bridge spans the St. Croix River, connecting Stillwater, Minnesota and Houlton, Wisconsin, just east of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) proposes to build a new four-lane, one-mile bridge between Oak Park Heights, Minnesota and Houlton, Wisconsin, about one mile south of the existing bridge. A smaller project with a more appropriate scale and lower cost has been proposed at a savings to taxpayers of approximately $400 million. The project is currently on hold because the National Park Service recently determined that the new bridge would have adverse impacts on the St. Croix, which is listed as a national Wild and Scenic River.

Juneau Access Road – Alaska
Cut: $500 million

The Juneau Access project would consist of a new 50-mile road out of Juneau that would connect to a ferry terminal for the last 18-mile journey to connect to either Haines or Skagway, with driving access to the interior of the state. Due to the treacherous terrain, the road would be closed at least one month every year, and the journey would likely require several days of driving in each direction from most parts of Alaska. In addition, the challenging terrain makes the construction of this road a questionable proposition and raises significant questions about cost overruns and project feasibility. Most of the funding for this project has not yet been identified, but proponents assume that the vast majority will come from federal taxpayers.

Outer Bridge Portion of Ohio River Bridges Project – Indiana and Kentucky
Cut: $1.5 billion

The outer, or eastern, bridge portion of this project would be a new interstate highway (I-265) and Ohio River bridge in the eastern suburban area of Louisville. It would connect the Gene Snyder Freeway in Kentucky (KY 841) to the Lee Hamilton Highway in Indiana (State Road 265). The project, which the Environmental Protection Agency calls “redundant”, is a developer’s dream. It would open up vast quantities of land in Indiana for development.

Gravina Island Access – Alaska
Cut: $300 million

Yes, the “Bridge to Nowhere” lives on. Though the bridge project was cancelled by then-Governor Sarah Palin in late 2007, the state completed construction of the $26 million 3-mile Gravina Access Highway, which would have served as the bridge access if the bridge was built. To avoid having to pay back to the federal government the money it spent on this “highway”, the state is conducting an assessment of the project to show how it will utilize the newly constructed road. The assessment is underway, but this charade should be stopped once and for all, and taxpayers assured that this monstrosity is killed for good.

Essential Air Service (EAS) Program
Cut: $1.63 billion*

This program was launched in the 1970s to ease the transition to airline deregulation by subsidizing commercial flights to the nation’s rural airports. What exactly constitutes “essential” about this program remains a mystery; many of the cities served by this program can be found an hour or less away from airports with unsubsidized flights. For example, Lebanon Municipal Airport in New Hampshire is subsidized by EAS and is only an hour and a half drive to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. A recent FAA extension passed by Congress caps subsidy levels at $1,000 per passenger, which only eliminates subsidies to three airports. Approximately 160 airports still receive the EAS subsidy, wasting millions in taxpayer funds.

Achieved Cuts

Rescind Unused Transportation Earmarks
Cut: $630 million

In the year-long continuing resolution that Congress passed last year to keep the government funded through fiscal year 2011, one of the provisions included was a rescission of unused transportation earmarks. This was a measure that TCS has supported in previous cut lists. Congress took back contract authority for unused earmarks that are more than 10 years old, and in the process saved taxpayers $630 million.

* Because each of these programs was subject to annual appropriations or was an expiring tax provision (that had been regularly extended), the ten year cost estimate was extrapolated based on available cost or spending data.

Note: Figures from FY2012 Budget of the U.S. Government, Louisville Magazine, Regional Transportation Plan Workshop (I-710), Alaska DOT, Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, Minnesota Department of Transportation. Cost estimates are based on total project costs, not necessarily expected federal investment. Escalation of infrastructure costs over time and private and local government investments could make these figures higher or lower in the future.