The latest high-stakes, multibillion-dollar drama in Congress is coming to a bridge, highway or pothole in New York near you.
For the first time, Congress is on the verge of letting run dry the fund that pays for building and repairing the nation’s key infrastructure.
According to New York City transportation officials, that means hundreds of millions of dollars of planned work could be affected as early as August.
It would have an impact on a variety of projects, they say, including the Belt Parkway Bridge over Mill Basin in Brooklyn, the Westchester Ave. Bridge over the Hutchinson River Parkway in the Bronx, the Macombs Dam Bridge over the Harlem River, and new curbs and medians as part of the Woodhaven Blvd. Select Bus Service project in Queens.
The legislative mess means the U.S. Transportation Department could cut back its reimbursements to states by 28% in early August, and then be totally out of money by September.
9 comments:
Doesn't the money for this fund come from the gasoline tax? So if we raise the tax we can pay for the bridges and roads we use to drive our cars. If we leave the tax as is we won't have the money for repairing roads and bridges. Even though the tax probably should be raised it wont.
Who needs transportation or roadway funding? We need to put that money to better use, like funding the dream act and welfare and medical for all the illegals who are here.
Anon 1 wants to raise the gas tax-great idea because gas is so cheap these days, right? Anon 2 on the other hand is on the right track-there's plenty of dough available but it's being wasted on utter BS. No wonder this whole damned country is in such a mess!
So, where is all the Federal gas tax money going? Apparently some fool in Washington must have sneaked in an amendment someplace that allows the Federal Government to raid gas tax revenue formerly earmarked for road construction, maintenance. and repair.
If Joe Crowley would do less self serving fund raising or lean on all this soldiers to also do so which takes much needed money out of the community just so he can charm Nancy Polosi who wisely is keeping him at arm's length, and get out of pro-immigration rallies and get behind his desk for his constituents then perhaps we would not have this problem.
And Baloney Carolyn Maloney? Still talking in a corner somewhere about all the money she got for Dutch Kills .... as a train tunnel helping suburban commuters.
A great team, eh?
Ever listen to Senator Schumer speak? The same backslapping tedious drivel over and over and (nauseating) over again.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer but at least he lives in his district.
The gas tax hasn't raised enough money to pay for highways in years. Of the 18.4 cents we pay per gallon 15.44 cents goes to the highway fund for road projects, 2.86 cents goes to mass transit, and 0.1 goes to pay for clean up of leaking underground storage tanks.
The feds haven't raided the fund since 1997 anon. (~1990-1997 some of the revenue went to deficit reduction). Inflation has ate into revenue, vehicle miles travelled has levelled off, and fuel efficiency has been improving. Even if you doubled the tax less than ten percent of what you pay at the pump would be going to the feds to pay for transportation projects.
This is a disgrace. This is not a democrat or republican issue, this is a basic governmental function.
The roadway system in this country is a complete joke. Many of our bridges and roadways were built in the great depression era and have long surpassed their life expectancy. When you look at other countries they have all new and well maintained infrastructure, as we dodge potholes on an 100 year old bridge that is considered structurally deficient, and may fall at any time.
The money is there is have a first class transportation system in this country which will repay us with increased efficiency, less time wasted in traffic, and lowered vehicle maintenance costs, but we choose to spend money on complete nonsense instead.
We're all subsiding the roads through our tax dollars, but god forbid we spend a few million on bike infrastructure and the crybabies are up in arms because they think they are actually paying for the roads with registration fees and gas taxes.
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