Baghdad Highways

A couple of weeks ago, our state’s biggest daily newspapers reported that TxDOT is running out of money to pay for new roads and bridges.

That’s largely because the gas tax hasn’t been increased to keep up with inflation and there’s no new highway money forthcoming from the federal government. But where is all the money going?

One answer is that federal highway funds are being cut by Congress to pay for the war in Iraq. The Federal Highway Administration has slated $871 million in highway improvement funds for rescission this year to feed the war effort along with hurricane relief and veteran’s care.

Kate wrote a nice story about these cuts in the October 5 ABJ, but unless you’re a paid print subscriber, you’ll have to wait for it to pop up on the free side of their site to read the whole thing. You can also find the ABJ in the periodicals section at many of Austin's public libraries (cue NBC’s “The More You Know” logo).

At any rate, I sure hope all the dead-enders out there don’t mind longer commutes and the occasional collapsing bridge.