Posted on 02/19/2017 11:10:43 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is hoping the federal government can rescue several critical infrastructure projects that the state can no longer afford.
The Brownback administration recently sent what amounts to a wish list to President Donald Trump for inclusion in his planned infrastructure initiative. It includes the following $240 million in highway and bridge projects delayed or abandoned because of the state’s ongoing budget problems:
The list — which Melika Willoughby, Brownback’s communications director, says the Trump administration requested — also includes the second phase of the John Redmond Reservoir dredging project and some streambank stabilization projects.
Several media outlets recently reported that the National Governors Association was helping to compile a list of “priority projects” for an infrastructure package of about $150 billion. According to those reports, the Trump administration will prioritize projects based on their potential to create jobs, improve public safety or enhance national security.
Willoughby says the I-235 project “will bolster the aviation manufacturing industry in Wichita.” And, she says, replacing the aging Lewis and Clark Viaduct is necessary to restore a “crucial corridor” in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
The Trump team also wants projects that are shovel ready, or close to it.
The Kansas road and bridge projects are. They were on this year’s construction schedule until cash-flow problems forced the Kansas Department of Transportation to delay them along with dozens of others.
Bob Totten, executive vice president of the Kansas Contractors Association, says while he welcomes any effort to bring additional federal construction dollars to the state, what Brownback is requesting wouldn’t make up for “all the money he’s taken from the highway program over the last six years.”
Brownback and lawmakers, Totten says, have swept $2.7 billion from KDOT, crippling the agency’s ability to complete T-Works, a 10-year, $8 billion transportation program approved in 2010.
Brownback is proposing to take another $600 million from the agency over the next two budget years to help cover a projected shortfall of nearly $1 billion.
Not the best time to be asking for federal handouts.
If he abolished DOE think,of all the states freed up money they will have when all the federal strings get cut.
No - not unless they kill all mass transit and other such non-highway maintenance projects paid for with highway dollars.
Wow, those sound like REAL shovel ready jobs. Wonder why they weren’t done using Obama’s Trillion Dollar Stimulus?
I know, Democrat controlled Government Unions always get paid first.
Didn’t Trump run on a massive rebuilding of infrastructure? I can’t fault Brownback for asking stuff his state needs to be on the list. At least it’s not crooked solar companies and bullet trains to nowhere.
“Wow, those sound like REAL shovel ready jobs. Wonder why they weren’t done using Obama’s Trillion Dollar Stimulus?”
THAT question, and others like it, should be constantly asked in a very public way. 0bama’s name needs to be linked to all the waste, fraud, and abuse.
Yeah but its not going to happen if we just keep throwing money at people who mismanage, underestimate, and inflate costs for unrelated reasons. IE it rewards/enables them to continue to do their current sh1tty jobs and screwing stuff up because the fed money will bail out their past/current mistakes instead of being used on future noted things needing improvement. And it wont work if the same people who screwed things up get to continue to screw things up.
Remember back in the 50’s when Eisenhower was President freeways, bridges, etc. were being built all over the the United States. I was working for a very successful business man and can remember his statement who and how does the government think is going to pay for the upkeep of these freeways and bridges. Railroads were used to transport most freight then and now it is trucks that really can tear up a highway & bridges with the weight.
best solution would be full privatization of all interstates
Hate to tell you but rail is still the single biggest freight mover. The problem isn’t necessarily the trucks themselves as many modern trucks have less ground pressure despite heavier weight due to the wider tires and additional axles they have over their 50s counterparts. The real problem is the 60-odd years of increasing neglect and craptacular maintenance (or lack thereof).
He can’t afford these infrastructure projects and yet he’s talking about building a new commercial airport in Johnson County?????
There isn't a lot of mass transit in Kansas outside of Topeka, Wichita, and Johnson County. And Brownback's problem is that the state has been forced to cut spending so much that they have had to use highway money to fund other areas.
They have used that money already, on highway projects and other spending.
Screw Brownback! The only way we get the National Debt under control is to quit spending money we don’t have. Where does this a$$hole think the money he’s seeking comes from? The real issue is most likely that he’s taken internally-generated highway funds and pi$$ed them away on non-highway-related matters. It’s long past time the Feds quit bankrolling the states. The State Administrations and their Legislatures have played this game of stealing money that was taxed for a specific purpose, and spend it in areas that for whatever reason are underfunded, or more likely unexpected ( like illegal immigrants).
Trump was the one who said he wants to spend a trillion on infrastructure. Maybe your question should be directed to him?
Right. We need more tolls.
“Trump was the one who said he wants to spend a trillion on infrastructure. Maybe your question should be directed to him?”
There needs to be a plan that closes financially on any nationwide infrastructure program. Brownback is just doing what the states have always done, nosing up to the Federal tit ahead of any planned Federal expenditures.
Just as I suspected, he’s pi$$ed away the money elsewhere! Someone should tell the good people of Kansas just where this money went.
“Bob Totten, executive vice president of the Kansas Contractors Association, says while he welcomes any effort to bring additional federal construction dollars to the state, what Brownback is requesting wouldn’t make up for “all the money he’s taken from the highway program over the last six years.”
Brownback and lawmakers, Totten says, have swept $2.7 billion from KDOT, crippling the agency’s ability to complete T-Works, a 10-year, $8 billion transportation program approved in 2010.
Brownback is proposing to take another $600 million from the agency over the next two budget years to help cover a projected shortfall of nearly $1 billion.”
Nationally, trucks carry about seven times more tonnage than railroads in the U.S.
USDOT -- Freight Tonnage by Mode
Having said that, I should also point out that there are no transportation infrastructure projects that can change this. Trucks dominate our freight transportation system because they are so flexible and can travel almost anywhere. Very few business establishments in the U.S. have rail sidings that serve them directly.
The know where it went. It went to cover the budget deficits of the last six years, and is going to cover the projected deficits for this year and next. There is only so much you can cut from education and public safety and Medicare. Money for the rest has to come from somewhere.
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