Congress’ Road Is Of Yellow Brick

While Spokane Valley motorists grumble in traffic jams caused by a long-overdue project to repave Interstate 90, Congress is stuck in a related political gridlock.

The Senate and House have failed to work out their differences over the federal highway program on which the entire country depends. So, on Tuesday, the current federal highway law expired.

As a result, the flow of federal dollars for new highway projects has stopped. Federal dollars continue to flow only to previously approved construction projects such as the one in the Valley. But, federal highway funding has not been keeping pace with road maintenance needs, as Spokane motorists know after years of driving I-90’s rutted lanes and clogged, unsafe interchanges.

So, with new projects stalled, the current backlog of unrepaired roads quickly will get worse. The interruption in funding will begin to hurt the public early next year, as city, county and state transportation officials begin preparing for a new construction season. For example, $30 million worth of improvements to Idaho’s wretched Highway 95 could be blocked.

The bickering in Congress is over a long list of issues that should have been settled long ago. Tuesday’s deadline, set six years ago when the last highway bill was enacted, was not a surprise to anyone on Capitol Hill.

The most important dispute would seem ludicrous everywhere except Congress: Should Congress spend all of the taxes Americans have paid to maintain and improve their roads? No, Congress has said in the past. Instead, it has hoarded our money in a trust fund where the cash makes the federal budget seem closer to balancing than it really is. Then Congress raids the highway trust fund to finance deficit spending in other portions of the federal budget - while potholes deepen, congestion worsens and people die on unsafe roads.

This summer’s ballyhooed deal to “balance” the budget continued that phony-baloney tradition. Now that a booming economy is bringing so much cash to the treasury that the deficit has shriveled, the practice of raiding the highway fund is unconscionable.

The House seems sympathetic to a change in this practice, but not the Senate. Their disagreements could last until spring, possibly longer. What can the politicians be thinking? They can’t be thinking of the voters who drive every day on grossly inadequate roads.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board