TEA-3 anyone?
States prepare for reauthorization of federal transportation package

By Angelle Bergeron

The consensus among highway department officials in the south-central region is that legislation re-authorizing the nation's surface transportation law will probably not be decided upon until after this year's presidential election.

The proposed TEA-3 is the third iteration of the transportation vision established by Congress in 1991 with the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act and renewed in 1998 through TEA-21, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.

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Current funding is reliant upon federal gasoline tax levels, which are no longer sufficient, and it's not likely that any new taxes will be approved before the next election.

Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee are also hoping to receive a 95 percent return on federal gas tax money contributed to federal coffers. This increase from the current 90.5 percent return would be substantial additional funding.

Meanwhile, highway departments are utilizing extensions and other creative funding to keep construction rolling.

Alabama

"You've got to be ready when the money gets here," said Ray Bass, chief engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation. "We aren't really looking for the Federal Highway Act until after this election, but I think we will have enough extensions at the same level we have had for the last six years under the old act."

Alabama DOT typically receives about $520 million a year from the federal government, and Bass expected this year's budget will be in the same neighborhood.

Construction is ongoing on Corridor X, the ambitious conversion of existing highways into an interstate that will run from Memphis to Birmingham. Corridor X is probably Alabama's largest overall project.

"Of course, we have several sections already completed in Alabama and about 20 miles under construction now," Bass said.

Numerous contracts totaling more than $500 million will eventually replace the current U.S. Highway 280 with Interstate 22. The corridor portion of the 30-year-old Appalachian Trust Fund is funding the project.

"We also have the Anniston Eastern Bypass, which is a connector, under construction," Bass said. Interestingly, the project has experienced some delays on the portion through Fort McClellan, primarily because buried, explosive materials that have been detected.

"We have several projects in the planning and design stages and we will have them ready as funds are released," Bass said.

The $500 million Birmingham Beltway, which will connect Interstate-459 South to Interstate-65 North, is in the design phase. Plans are being drawn for a bridge that will span Mobile Bay parallel to Interstate-10 and the tunnel, but it is doubtful that construction will begin this year.

Arkansas

The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department recently updated a 1997 needs analysis on its state system and identified about $16 billion in needs over the next 10 years. However, the department anticipates having only $4 billion in available revenue, said Randy Ort, public affairs officer.

"We're like a lot of states in that we are waiting on the transportation bill to come out of Washington," Ort added. "That will help us to determine our funding levels for future projects."

The department is currently conducting a series of public meetings throughout the state.

"These meetings are to inform the public and basically get input as to what their priorities are," Ort said. Ten meetings will have been held by the end of March, but it will likely take several more months to analyze the results.

Arkansas is in the midst of a huge Interstate Rehabilitation Program (IRP) that is designed to reconstruct or rehabilitate approximately 60 percent of the state's existing highways.

"We've currently got about $1 billion in work underway or completed," Ort said. "The project is being funded primarily with GARVE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) bonds, and all the work should be completed in 2005."

For years the department has been working on Interstate-49, which will connect Shreveport to Kansas City.

"Officially, there is not an I-49 in Arkansas," Ort said. However, the roadway that parallels the existing Highway 71 is commonly referred to as I-49.

"Arkansas is building new construction to interstate standards and we have completed the portion from Interstate-40 northward almost to the Missouri border," Ort added. The Bella Vista Bypass, a joint project between Missouri and Arkansas, will complete that section.

The location has been pinpointed and designs should be finalized by this summer. Both states are exploring ways to finance that construction, and the bypass could be Arkansas' first toll road, Ort said.

"We also have a portion of I-49 under construction from Texarkana southward for approximately 28 mi.," he said. "That work brings us within 5 mi. of the Louisiana State line, and we should have traffic on the first half of it (Texarkana to Fouke) later this year."

The section from Fouke to Doddridge won't be open until 2005.

Mississippi

The Mississippi Department of Transportation currently has $1.4 billion in active construction projects but is facing another $4 billion in needs, said Larry L. Butch Brown, executive director. Brown, who refers to himself as "the big dot at MDOT," said he is proud that MDOT does not have any debt to speak of.

"We've just completed a $3 billion package (implemented in 1987) and embarked on a $6 billion pay-as-you-go construction plan that will take us to about 2025," he added. "That's a pretty good standing."

MDOT has detailed short-, medium- and long-range plans identifying key projects and the necessary cash flow.

"Our biggest project is a new $120 million bridge in Washington County," Brown said. "That portion is funded, but we also have $100 million of approaches with that bridge that are un-funded."

A bypass is part of that same program and will require another $70 million, meaning that only about one third of the overall project is funded at this time.

"We have projects through half the state and an annual budget of about $1 billion," Brown said. "The good news is we can't build those billions of projects in a single year, so we use our cash flow to fund on an annual basis."

Brown said he was optimistic that the re-authorization bill would be approved before the presidential election.

"The president has said he will veto any re-authorization bill passed that can't be fully funded by the highway trust fund," he added. "We feel that the bill that will pass will be very close to the Senate bill and the Senate leadership has said that its bill can be funded through the trust fund."

Brown said he's hoping that by the end of April the Mississippi State Legislature will have approved limited tolling authority.

"That will be limited to newly constructed roads and a pilot project or two," he said. "In the design-build area, that would allow us to tackle some large, expensive projects utilizing entrepreneurial capital where they would build a facility and we would lease it back."

MDOT has already been successful utilizing private investors for the $500 million Canal Road, which connects I-10 and the Port of Gulfport on the Gulf Coast.

"We have to come up with creative approaches because our demands are greater than our resources," Brown said.

Still, Congress will have to come up with a new method to provide funding because fuel taxes are diminishing - "maybe lane miles used, miles traveled or something like that," Brown said. "We still have to pay all this money back after we get creative."

Tennessee

The Tennessee Department of Transportation is currently operating on a five-month extension for federal funds and, like other Southern states, is hoping to receive a boost from the increase in return on the federal gas tax.

"If we get the increase to 95 percent from 90.5 percent, Tennessee would get an extra $140 million for the next six years," said Bill Moore, chief engineer.

On the other hand, "if the administration bill passes as it is presented, it would take us three years to get back to where we are now," he added.

Currently, Tennessee has about 500 active contracts across the state and typically does about $1.6 billion in any given year, Moore said. The bulk of work is focused on the statewide four-laning initiative.

In May, the department will take bids on the $25 million widening of U. S. Highway 25 in Granger and Claiborne counties in the eastern part of the state. Another $30 million will be awarded for the widening of U. S. Highway 321 in Cocke County.

"All the other projects we have are subject to funding," Moore said. That includes an $80 million project in the Knoxville area for the rebuilding of a section of I-40 and the James White Parkway. A connector road on Hall of Fame drive would comprise the second phase of that project.

"The first half of that project will be let by the end of 2005 or beginning of 2006, and the second phase will be let after two years of construction on the first phase," Moore said. "The largest project we've ever let prior is $65 million."

Several projects in the Chattanooga region have been earmarked, including a $15 million project to widen a 4-mi. stretch of U. S. Highway 64 in Franklin County and a $12 million interchange on Interstate 75. Also slated are two $12 million bridges, one over the Hiwassee River in Meigs County and another over the Tennessee River at U. S. Highway 41.

In the Nashville area, four-laning projects in three counties add up to $65 million. Some of these will be let by early summer.

Commissioner Gerald Nicely has mandated that incentives/disincentives be part of every interstate bid package in an effort to expedite projects, said Kim Keelor, public information officer.

"We have the biggest incentives right now on any projects to date," Keelor said. "The commissioner hopes it's an investment that will pay off. It inspires the contractors to do more night time work, to do more to meet the contract demands of deadlines and to avoid delays, cost over runs and inconvenience to motorists."