Highway Crisis Government Deadline Looms

Highway Crisis Government Deadline Looms

Written By Erin Thorum,  Marketing Manager and Traffic Reporter

Are you sitting down, America? In your car, maybe, reading this while you wait to pick up your kids at summer camp or while you kill some time waiting to meet your friends? Well, brace yourselves for some unsettling news. By August 1st, the American Federal Highway Trust Fund will hit a financial wall and unless Congress extends more funding, our account balance will bottom out. Unfortunately, we don't have overdraft protection for this kind of thing.

Once we drop below our available funds, the agency will have to start pulling back on money allotted to states for transportation infrastructure. This includes highway construction and improvement, bridge maintenance and repair, and about a million other issues that will impact how comfortably we will commute in the fall of 2014.

Not sure exactly what this might mean for you? Here's a few concerns: 

Construction and road maintenance freeze: Any freeze in funds could potentially halt construction projects already underway. In places like Chicago, where an entire bridge replacement on the Kennedy Expressway has snarled traffic for commuters each weekend since early summer, that could actually be good news - temporarily. In the long run, very necessary roadway maintenance will go unfinished, or projects will be even further delayed, making emergency repairs like the I-495 closure in Delaware (that made national news!) a more common occurrence. Even local municipalities could be affected, with minimal funds to repair potholes and damaged roadways. As much of the East Coast is still in recovery mode from the brutal winter of 2014, this is terrible news. Flat tires for everyone!

Car Maintenance Cost Increase: Speaking of flat tires and car maintenance, the trickle-down end result of unrepaired roadways means even more potential damage to commuter vehicles traveling on roads in poor condition. As the owner of a Mazda 3 with low-profile tires, I fully understand the need to drive on well-maintained roadways. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've been keeping our local Philly auto body shop in business with all of my necessary tire replacements. In New York, another city still reeling from a difficult winter, the average driver spends almost $700 on car maintenance a year. Bad roads are sure to increase that spending thanks to popped tires, broken bumpers, and accidents caused by roads that may have buckled or become unsafe because of weather damage. 

Gas price hike:  How much are you currently spending to fill your tank? Well, prepare to drop even more dollars when you refill if we drive over the transportation fiscal cliff. While national taxes on fuel won't see an increase and haven't for 20 years, many states are starting to view gas taxes as a way to bring in additional state funding. Eight states raised their gas taxes last year, and more are heavily considering the option.

Unemployment issues: I'm assuming you don't live under an overpass without access to the Internet (or maybe you do - can I come live with you? It sounds idyllic!) so you probably already know that we are all in a bit of an economic crisis. With unemployment numbers always teetering on the edge of chaos, suspended highway maintenance projects and additional construction could put thousands of folks out of work.

The good news is that we may have found our way out of this jam. The House has approved additional funding upwards of $11 billion, and we are waiting on word from the Senate who will vote early this week. Reports from coming from Washington are positive that this will likely end in a bipartisan decision that favors moving forward with the House-approved budget. But don't get too comfortable, folks - we face another cliff next May. Just in time for summer vacation!