State sees reduction in federal funding
From staff and wire reports | Posted: Thursday, July 13, 2006 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Department of Transportation says it has postponed work on five highway construction projects because of cuts in federal funding.
The federal government has cut about $29 million in promised highway maintenance payments to the state this fiscal year, the agency said.
The cuts are a result of congressional spending on defense and other needs, state officials say. And they say the cuts mean the state won't be able to maintain the quality of Wyoming's transportation system.
"We're proud of the quality of the transportation system we've built and maintained in Wyoming, and we believe the people should know why we will be unable to maintain that level of quality, and what to expect if we can't afford to prevent further deterioration of our highways," said WYDOT Chief Engineer Del McOmie.
Projects that had been scheduled to start this year - but are now being postponed - are:
* Reconstruction of 7 miles of the northbound lanes of Interstate 25 from the Colorado border north.
* Rebuilding 5 miles of Interstate 25 east of Casper.
* Widening and resurfacing of 4 miles of Highway 50 south of Gillette.
* Widening of the Bryant Section of U.S. Highway 26-Highway 789 north of Riverton.
* Installation of 6.5 miles of deer fence and six deer crossing underpasses on U.S. Highway 30 in Nugget Canyon west of Kemmerer.
Wyoming had expected to receive about $244 million from the federal government in the fiscal year that runs from Oct. 1, 2005, through Sept. 30, 2006, said WYDOT spokesman Dave Kingham. But since the beginning of the fiscal year, he said, the federal Department of Transportation has three times reduced the amount of money it's giving the state and now intends to pay only about $215 million.
Lara Azar, spokeswoman for Gov. Dave Freudenthal, said the federal funding cuts are "certainly a concern, especially given other pressures on the transportation department right now."
WYDOT's funding situation is one of the topics slated for discussion by the Legislature's Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Interim Committee today in Douglas.
Kevin Hibbard, budget officer at WYDOT, said it's extremely rare to have federal funds rescinded multiple times in the same fiscal year.
"At a time when our revenues are flat or shrinking, we're experiencing inflation in construction costs unprecedented in the department's history," Hibbard said.
Wyoming and other states typically have been authorized to make contracts for 95 percent of the federal highway funds they're scheduled to receive, but Hibbard said that this year the feds have lowered that limit to about 85 percent.
McOmie said that with increasing volumes of truck traffic, Wyoming's highways are being subjected to increased wear.
"The cost of construction materials has more than doubled since 1998, but our revenues have remained relatively flat, so our budget now pays for about half the work we used to be able to do," McOmie said. "As a result, we can no longer afford to build and maintain our highway system to the level of quality Wyoming residents are accustomed to."
In 1998, WYDOT funded 135 projects, while this year it expects to complete 79.