I've been waiting to see this article for a long time. Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, I know you guys love to complain that you're not getting your share of road dollars but we have to stats to prove otherwise. So what if 280 hasn't been double-decked soon? It probably will be thanks to tax dollars from us. Montgomery Outer Bypass? Same thing. New Mobile Bay Bridge? Yep.
I'm to the point that I want toll roads. I don't care if we have to be like Orlando where every freeway except for 1 is tolled. I don't care, just toll anything and everything if it means not dealing with ALDOT. They think we're just a bunch of rich engineers so we can take care of ourselves. We're not like those poor folks in Washington County and North Mobile County that are getting themselves a new Steel Mill. Gee, I wish we built cars or did more industrial stuff here and then we'd get more state funded roads.
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1185096206233060.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
State road money not headed north
Sunday, July 22, 2007
By BOB LOWRY
Times Staff Writer
[email protected]
Officials say area not getting 'fair share' of gas taxes
MONTGOMERY - Madison County officials shouldn't hold their breath waiting for new state highway money as the Army prepares to implement its Base Realignment and Closure Commission moves, Gov. Bob Riley said.
That, despite a report showing the county repeatedly has been shortchanged in the amount of highway dollars returned to the county compared to the fuel tax revenue sent to Montgomery.
Massive state incentives, including $810 million, were used to lure 2,700 jobs to South Alabama for a steel mill, but nothing of that sort will be forthcoming to help Madison County cope with an economic expansion that will produce 7,500 high-paying jobs.
Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer said Thursday the military has expressed the most concern about highways as the city prepares for thousands of military and contractor jobs that will locate here by 2011.
"Now we're asking very strongly for some help," she said. "The only fear they (military) have is that we're not going to be able to address the traffic. We're asking the only people that can do it, and that's our state."
But Riley said in an interview with The Times Wednesday that Madison County won't get any immediate state help for roads.
Riley said other fast-growing areas of the state, such as Baldwin, Lee and Shelby counties, are where highway dollars may be needed the most right now.
Asked to compare BRAC to the millions in incentives the state gave German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG, Riley said, "I'm not sure you want to go down that road."
"There's been no incentive package where we haven't stepped up and have been extremely aggressive" on Huntsville projects, he said.
Numbers don't lie
But local officials and state legislators complain that Madison County has consistently been treated unfairly in the amount of fuel tax revenue it sends to Montgomery compared to highway construction dollars returned to the county.
And they have the statistics - from the state - to prove it.
A report done by the University of Alabama and University of Alabama in Huntsville for the city and the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce demonstrates the imbalance in highway funding that Madison County saw between 1990 and 2005.
During that period,
the county sent more than $469 million in fuel taxes to Montgomery. But state highway expenditures in the county during that period were only $249.39 million, only 53 percent of what the county contributed, the report shows.
During the same period, 72 percent of Jefferson County's revenues were returned to that county, 74 percent of Mobile County's were spent in that county, Montgomery County received 10 percent more than it contributed, and Tuscaloosa County got 77 percent more in road money than in fuel tax revenue it sent to the capital.
"Maybe we have not been aggressive enough in Montgomery," said Spencer. "Maybe our legislative delegation did not come together. I'm very disappointed and surprised to see those statistics."
The report concludes that based on past inequities, the county is now due at least $279.89 million in road money.
"That's not how we build roads today," said Joe McInnes, state transportation director. "I'm offended by the fact that somebody thinks they have been discriminated against."
No dollar for dollar
Spencer said she was not criticizing the Riley administration, but she added, "We're at a point now we need help to play catch-up. We're under a timeline. We have a lot more pressure than other parts of the state."
Riley said when the Interstate 565 spur was built in Madison County, "you got more than your fair share."
"We've never divvied money up according to the revenue you generate," he said. "Decisions are made based on the need for safety and economic development opportunities."
"It's hard to get this administration to pay attention to an area that does well on its own," Rep. Randy Hinshaw, D-Meridianville, said Wednesday. "I think a lot of people think there's just a lot of wealthy engineers living up here and we don't need any help.
"We really haven't had anybody that has paid any attention to this area since (Gov.) Guy Hunt. This administration talks good about BRAC and say they understand, but that has not ended up with any money for road construction up here."
Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, said Riley and McInnes need to come to Madison County and explain to local officials the funding discrepancies.
"We're not getting a fair share back of gas taxes from the coffers in Montgomery," he said. "The administration and the highway department have to sit down with leaders here and discuss the amount of money we're sending to Montgomery and the amount of money we're getting back."
A city planning department report says by 2030 that Huntsville can expect more than 86,000 new commuters from surrounding counties and other counties in the region.
"These are significant impacts upon the transportation network," the department said in the report submitted to the Alabama Department of Transportation.
Other areas growing
But Tony Harris, director of governmental relations for the DOT, said Madison County's situation is not unique.
"It's not that much different than any other area of the state that's experiencing growth," he said. "There are more (highway) programs on the books than funds available. It's not just Madison County; it's Jefferson County, Shelby County, Montgomery County, Elmore County, Autauga County, the Mobile metro area."
Harris said one of the state's priorities in Mobile and Baldwin counties has been the widening of two-lane roads into four-lane highways for use as hurricane evacuation routes.
"I'm not that convinced that Madison County is an island unto itself," he said.
Harris said it's not unusual for funding that may have been designated for a project at one time or another to be shifted to another project deemed more critical. He said those transfers can be made unless the funds are specifically earmarked by Congress.
"It's a point a lot of leaders have been making," said Hinshaw, a member of the Legislature's Joint Transportation Committee.
"It seems like a lot of money that was designated for the southern bypass has been rerouted to south Alabama."
Spencer said she hopes to persuade U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, and Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, and U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, to get federal highway money earmarked for Madison County so that it can bypass Montgomery.
She said her highway priorities are overpasses on Memorial Parkway and Patriot Parkway (the southern bypass), which would cross Redstone Arsenal from I-565 as part of a possible Memphis-to-Atlanta freeway. Winchester Road is also a high priority.
Spencer said she agreed with Riley that some thought should be given to making Patriot Parkway a toll road.
DOT officials have said, however, that Patriot Parkway may be postponed while archaeological and environmental studies are redone since there's been no work on the project for three years.
Riley said with fewer state and federal dollars, Alabama must look at new approaches such as toll roads or private-public partnerships.
"If you started a new road project today, it would be at least two years before the state could start moving any dirt," he said.
"Are we going to have all the infrastructure for BRAC fully realized? I don't think so.
"We've got some time to begin to address some plans to address it. I can promise you one thing. We probably understand as acutely the needs of Huntsville and Madison County as any other area of the state. I think we've been more attentive to North Alabama and Huntsville - across the board."
Fuel taxes stagnant
Rep. Mike Hill, R-Columbiana, also a member of the Joint Highway Committee, said Wednesday many state highway projects are on hold because of stagnant fuel tax revenue.
Alabama's fuel tax is based on volume, not price. With rising gasoline prices, many Alabamians have cut back on their driving, while others have switched to more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The number of gallons of fuel purchased annually has not risen much over the past decade. Based on inflation, Alabama lost more than $100 million in purchasing power between 1993 and 2005, according to the DOT.
Alabama collects 18 cents for every gallon of fuel sold, 2 cents of which is for inspection fees.
A bill co-sponsored by Hill that died this spring in the Legislature would have replaced the per-gallon tax with a system tied to the federal highway cost index.
That index would adjust taxes based on the increasing costs of materials such as asphalt, steel and concrete.
The proposed legislation, phased in over five years, would have raised fuel taxes by 1.5 cents the first year and produced up to $25 million in additional revenue for the DOT. By 2012, it was estimated the fuel tax would be 23.1 cents per gallon.
Hill said maintenance projects - not expansion - use up most of the state's highway tax dollars.
The congested roadways in Huntsville are common in many of the state's metro areas, said Hill. "If you get on I-65 in Shelby County in the morning going to Birmingham, it's a parking lot in both lanes," he said. "It's a mess."
Hill complained about the amount of highway money going to Autauga and Elmore counties, which adjoin Montgomery County across the Alabama River.
The DOT is adding two lanes to a four-lane bridge across the Alabama River.
"I guess all the bureaucrats want to make sure they can get to work in three minutes," said Hill.
© 2007 The Huntsville Times
© 2007 al.com All Rights Reserved.
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