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Can high speed rail launch during budget crisis?

 

 by: David Fierro


California, my home state, is facing a severe financial crisis. The state is staring at a $16B budget shortfall and Gov. Jerry Brown is asking for austere cuts and tax hikes to get the golden state back in the black.

Amid this budgetary crisis, California is also trying to launch the beginnings of an 800-mile high speed rail system that would ultimately link San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

The initial phase from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a 520-mile piece, is estimated to cost between $68 and $98 billion.

So how does a state swimming in red ink justify a monumental investment in rail?

Gov. Brown, long known as a visionary, was recently asked if he still believed high speed rail was a good idea for California.

Brown responded emphatically to the positive. "It's a very powerful idea that could become something of great importance to California," he said. "New ideas are never received as well as old ideas, but I think California is the one place where high speed rail can get its start in the United States."

Brown then cited a reference from medieval France. "How did the peasants of medieval France afford to build the cathedral of Chartres? They did it slowly...they did it with community investment and a great belief in the future."

Utah is still dipping its toes into high speed rail as part of an alliance of western states that want to build a high speed rail network. Utah is closely watching developments with Nevada's DesertXpress, which would link Las Vegas with California's system. Utah would connect with Las Vegas and Denver to the west.

Last year, DesertXpress received Records of Decision from the Federal Railroad Administration, Bureau of Land Management and Federal Highway Administration. DesertXpress also entered into a lease agreement with the BLM.

As for that cathedral in France Gov. Brown cited? It took almost 60 years to build and eventually caused bloody riots between the bishops and civic authorities over tax revenues.





David Fierro is the public involvement manager for Horrocks Engineers. He resides in Midvale.

 

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UTA Bike Bonanza on Friday

SALT LAKE—Utah Transit Authority will sponsor its annual Bike Bonanza Friday, May 18 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Gallivan Plaza, 239 South Main Street in Salt Lake.

The event schedule is as follows:

4:00-8:00 p.m. Free pizza and Creamies; Free helmets to first 75 kids; Free water bottles to the first 300 attendees; SL Century ride registration packet pick-up; Vendor and information booths.

4:00, 5:00, 6:00, and 7:30 p.m. Bike Trials Stunt Show

4:30-6:30 p.m. Bike Rodeo

6:30 p.m. Free raffle for bikes, bags, watches, gear and more.

Sponsors include the following: Salt Lake City; Specialized; Ebay; Downtown Alliance; Clif Bar; REI; Creamies; TravelWise; SLC Bicycle Company; Outdoor Utah Adventure Journal; Rockwell Relay; SLC Bicycle Collective; Cycle Salt Lake Century; Tour of Utah; Dakine; Utah Highway Safety and Salt Lake County.


US 89 repaving project to begin May 20

OGDEN—The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) advises motorists that it will begin repaving US 89/91 from Brigham City to Sardine Summit, on Sunday, May 20.

This project will involve the removal of the top layer of the roadway, and its replacement with a new asphalt surface. Crews will begin work will near the east end of state Road 90 (200 South) in Brigham City and continue past Mantua to Sardine Summit. Construction will take place during both day and nighttime hours from Saturday at 7 p.m. through Friday at 12 p.m.

Crews will work in a "racetrack" fashion, with one lane of travel remaining open in each direction during construction activities. Recreational and area travelers can expect moderate to heavy traffic congestion during this project.

Roadway and safety improvements on US-89/91 will include asphalt removal and replacement, new lane markings, rumble strips and roadside delineators. Additionally, to facilitate the paving work, several ramps to and from US-89/91 will be closed for 24-hour periods. They include the Brigham City west-bound off-ramp to SR-90 (200 South) on May 20; the east-bound on-ramp from SR-90 in Brigham City to US-89/91 on May 21; and the on- and off-ramps at Mantua on May 22-23. This project is scheduled to be completed by early September.

With congestion through the construction zone expected, motorists with time-sensitive travel and truck traffic is encouraged to consider using SR-30 via I-15 at Riverside, as an alternate to US-89/91 over Sardine Summit. Closed lanes will be preceded by electronic signs indicating the closure ahead and directing traffic to move into the open lanes. Flaggers will be present throughout the construction zone, so motorists should reduce speeds and be prepared to stop at any time, particularly when nearing the construction vehicle turn-around at Sardine Summit.

For more information about this project, please contact the project team at US-91Canyon@utah.gov, or by calling 888-556-0232. This telephone number is available 24-hours per day. Dates and times are subject to change, and work may be postponed or rescheduled due to inclement weather, cooler than required temperatures, equipment availability or other issues.

U.S. Chamber calls for long term funding

By Janet Kavinoky for Politico The two commissions created by Congress in the 2005 highway, transit and safety law reached a shared conclusion: The next transportation reauthorization bill needs to increase sources of revenue for the Highway Trust Fund and begin the transition to a sustainable and stable user-fee derived revenue source.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading the charge to modernize and expand the nation's transportation network because we believe that failing to properly invest in our infrastructure puts our potential for job growth and global competitiveness at risk. The longer we delay in addressing these issues, the more rapidly our transportation and infrastructure system deteriorates. Since 2007, the Chamber has been calling for a serious conversation on how to close the gap between infrastructure needs and available resources.
Ideally, the current House-Senate conference committee for the highway-transit bill would produce legislation to address both the immediate federal funding crisis and long-term challenges. Unfortunately, that appears unlikely to happen, as Congress would have to formulate a new approach to collecting user-based revenue before June 30, when the current extension of highway and transit law expires.

Although the latest effort to pass a highway, public transportation and safety bill is not going to solve the underlying transportation funding problem, it's still critical to get that legislation in place now.

Without a successful highway transit bill conference, we reach the end of the road in 2013 and will be unable to maintain transportation investment at current levels. In fact, if that were to occur, Congress would have to cut highway, transit and safety programs by nearly 60 percent, according to an analysis by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Quite simply, that outcome is unacceptable. Although some members of Congress and pundits proclaim it's time to "live within our means" when it comes to transportation funding, slashing investment by nearly two-thirds would immediately eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs in construction and related industries and harm our fragile economy. Already, Titan America, a family-led concrete company in business since 1902, has cut its workforce by more than half because of inaction on a funding and reform bill.

In April, a Standard & Poor's article by credit analyst Jodi Hecht aptly titled, "U.S. Transportation Infrastructure Falls Into Disrepair While Washington Bickers Over Funding," noted that the United States is now ranked 24th in the world in quality of overall infrastructure, which has a significant effect on growth of the gross domestic product.

Draconian cuts to the budget are also dangerous and disruptive for transit systems in need of significant upgrade. A third of major roads in the United States are in poor or mediocre condition, and a quarter of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Nearly 25 percent of the track, tunnels and elevated structures of public transportation systems are in poor or marginal condition.

It has been suggested that federal transportation programs be eliminated and the responsibility left to the states. "Devolution," as it's called, is unworkable and ill-advised. Governors, state legislators, mayors and city council members are not prepared to increase local revenues to take on this huge liability. States and metropolitan areas already are strapped for cash and using transportation trust funds to balance budgets.

Without federal funding and the policy and programmatic structures to support them, states cannot be expected to act on their own to ensure that interstate commerce, domestic and international trade, interstate passenger travel and emergency preparedness are adequately supported by the transportation infrastructure in their care.

And where will funds come from to seed the public transportation investments to address traffic congestion, mobility and productivity in the economic engines of the U.S. economy—our cities?

Some people wrongly argue that investment in transit is a less than serious, utopian enterprise. The Chamber strongly believes transit is a critical means of addressing congestion and is driving economic development in many areas around the country.

These red herrings, accepting major funding cuts or devolving federal programs to the states, are not real solutions. Congress and President Barack Obama must work toward passage of a bill out of conference before June 30. The nation cannot afford for them to fail in finding a way to sustain federal funds through 2013 or to address many of the inefficiencies of current federal law.

Then, before the ink on their agreement dries, we have to get back on the road to a serious conversation about long-term funding for transportation that modernizes American infrastructure and promotes economic stability.

Janet Kavinoky is executive director of transportation and infrastructure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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QUOTEBOOK

"Let me set some markers. We're going to have to pay for this and pay for this responsibly. We're not going to raise taxes. Anyone who wants to raise taxes, you're on the wrong conference committee. We must not include earmarks. And we can't add to federal bureaucracy. We've got to cut red tape and start streamlining the process."

—House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica at transportation bill conference.


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