The transportation crisis in North Carolina

Opinion

August 30, 2007

Anonymous The Daily Southerner Thu Aug 30, 2007, 10:38 AM EDT

Winston-Salem Journal — Comments by state Rep. Nelson Cole, a powerful seven-term Democrat from Reidsville, explain why recurring state problems don’t get fixed in Raleigh – especially transportation problems.

Speaking about North Carolina’s sorry roads and the necessity of raising taxes to fix them, Cole told The Charlotte Observer: “Politically, you can’t ask somebody to stick their neck out and vote for it if their opponent is going to hit them over the head with it. No one likes taxes.”

That’s an incredible statement from the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on transportation, a leader whose job it is to make hard choices.

North Carolina faces a transportation crisis. Like those in much of the rest of the nation, our roads and bridges have grown old without necessary maintenance. Our airports have surpassed capacity, and most mass-transit systems are inadequate.

The state Board of Transportation has identified $122 billion in needs that must be met over the next 25 years. The current revenue stream is projected to raise only $57 billion of that.

Many approaches could cover the $65 billion gap between needs and available money. North Carolina can cut back on what it says it needs in terms of new roads. Some existing revenues can be shifted around within the state’s various funds to direct more to transportation needs. And, who knows, maybe the state will get lucky and someone will come up with a great idea for operating more efficiently.

But, look at the $65 billion gap and consider these facts:

• North Carolina is one of the fastest-growing states in the union, and that means the driving population is growing.

• People are driving more, not less, despite higher gas prices.

• North Carolinians want new roads and fewer traffic jams.

• Education, health-care, law-enforcement, environmental-protection and mental-health needs are also rising. The funds available to be diverted from other parts of the budget aren’t likely to be sizable.

• The costs for road-building and maintenance materials are rising quickly, while current gas-tax revenues will flatten as cars become more fuel efficient.

Simple common sense says that more revenue will be needed.

In the just-completed legislative session, transportation reform got no attention, and that is leading to speculation that a special session might be necessary this year. But a special session will accomplish nothing if, as Cole suggests, legislators are more concerned about their own re-election chances than they are about doing what is necessary for North Carolina’s current and future transportation needs.

As Cole has unintentionally explained, we have elected a legislature more concerned with its own needs than with ours.

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