Federal highway fund cut could cost Hawai'i $32M

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

A Bush administration proposal to cut federal highway money could cost Hawai'i $32 million next year, jeopardizing dozens of projects from regular maintenance to new road construction.

Hawai'i Gov. Ben Cayetano was among the nation's governors who visited the White House this week and pleaded with President Bush to restore $8.5 billion in highway construction money.

The cuts would affect the state's road building plans through the end of the decade, officials said.

Moreover, the money Congress approves for 2003 will serve as a baseline for the next federal highway authorization law controlling allocations through 2009; if the starting point remains low, Hawai'i stands to lose millions more in the following period.

"Anytime we lose funding, it's a major concern," said state Transportation Department spokeswoman Marilyn Kali. She said that the state had received an average of $120 million in federal highway money in recent years. The Bush proposal submitted to Congress would cut that by 27 percent.

Officials also are worried the cuts might signal an effort to change the way the federal government helps states finance their highway projects, Kali said.

For instance, the federal government might ask local governments to increase their 20 percent match on project money, or eliminate the matching requirement and simply give states less. Another fear is that Congress might stop guaranteeing that gasoline taxes will go exclusively toward highways.

If Congress approves the cuts, Hawai'i would have to reconsider a long list of highway improvements, Kali said. "The projects were approved based upon a continued level of funding. No one expected a big decrease," she said.

Last year the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, which sets spending priorities for transit projects, approved a list of 58 major goals ranging from implementation of a statewide bicycling plan to construction of a tunnel linking Fort Armstrong to Sand Island, over the next 20 years. Some of those projects could end up scaled back or eliminated if money is cut.

The agency listed another 15 projects totaling $1.3 billion to be completed if additional money becomes available. Those lower-priority projects included a second major access road through Leeward O'ahu and widening of Farrington Highway, Kunia Road, Moanalua Freeway and the Pali Highway in congested areas. Those projects would have little hope of completion under the cutbacks.

Bush's budget plan for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 provides $22.6 billion for the Federal Highway Administration, which distributes the money to the states. The lower figure results from a 1998 law that linked highway spending to gasoline tax revenues, which have fallen in recent years because of the economic downturn and growing use of ethanol, which is taxed at a lower rate.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.