With little regard for taxpayers, local communities and the environment, transportation officials are about to waste $17 billion in federal money on unneeded road projects in 26 states, according to a report by Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) and Friends of the Earth (FOE).

The report, Road to Ruin, identifies the 50 most wasteful highway projects in the country and, for the first time, ranks the ten worst by cost to taxpayers, impact on the environment and whether they induce sprawl development. The report was released April 28, in Washington, DC and 30 other cities. It sparked a widespread debate about this spending. National newspapers such as the Washington Post and Boston Globe have picked up the story as well as regional publications like the Miami Herald and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Coverage so far has exceeded 130 newspaper stories along with broadcast coverage by more than 60 television and radio stations, reaching the many localities where construction is slated.

In response to the report and its media coverage, many local government officials from states like Utah and Michigan came out to defend these pork projects.

But other leaders still are reserving judgement like the Governor's office in Indiana, which is considering the various impacts involved in construction on the roads of I-70/U.S. 41 and I-69 and is considering “both options” according to the Associated Press.

Other local leaders are considering the effects of sprawl in conjunction with these projects.

“Gov. Ridge would argue that in our decisions to build new roads we need to consider the effect on sprawl,” said Tim Reeves, Ridge's spokesman in an AP story. “It is an issue that now concerns many Pennsylvanians and it is something we need to think about.”