State transportation agencies across the U.S. have been forced to put their road projects on hold amid the Highway Trust Fund’s looming insolvency, Federal Times reported Monday.Adrienne Lu writes the Transportation Department estimates that the federal account used to help finance highway and bridge projects will run dry next month.
DOT officials plan to execute cash management strategies if Congress does not act to reauthorize funding for the Highway Trust Fund.
“We’ve probably got up to $120 million in projects in Arkansas that we could have gone to bid with that we can’t go to bid with now because there’s no guarantee that we’ll be reimbursed,” said Rep. Jonathan Barnett of Siloam Springs, according to the publication.
Rhode Island’s transportation agency suspended many new highway construction projects to ensure that ongoing projects have sufficient funds, Lu reports.
The Missouri highways and transportation commission has decided not to add projects this year under the state’s transportation improvement.
“Instead of being able to make strategic decisions, sometimes we’re forced to make reactive decisions and that’s not the best way to build infrastructure that lasts for decades,” said Bob Brendel, a Missouri DOT spokesperson, according to the article.
The Pew Charitable Trusts estimated that 15 percent to 60 percent of states’ highway and transit funds in fiscal 2011 came from federal sources.
