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Officials decry paltry federal road and bridge funding
Second of a two-part series
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County engineer and commissioners are decrying the amount of federal money the county has received for road and bridge infrastructure projects in recent years.
At the request of Anthony Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners, Engineer Patrick Ginnetti compiled a list of projects, for which a total of $25.1 million in federal money has been received since 2009.
“When it costs roughly $1 million a mile to do one lane [of complete road reconstruction], that’s not very much money,” Ginnetti told the commissioners last week.
“The monies just aren’t available as they used to be. We have to be way more planned and organized” now than in the past, Ginnetti said.
“There’s not a lot of federal dollars coming this way. It’s not political. It’s not anything against us. There’s just not a lot of money out there.
“This is a nationwide problem. You have bridges collapsing. You have roads failing, potholes popping up everywhere,” the engineer said.
“If the federal government doesn’t kick in and start helping us a little more, our roads are going to turn to dirt. Things need to come from bigger government than us,” Ginnetti said.
Ohio’s lawmakers also weighed in on the funding problem.
“Our nation’s extensive network of highways and bridges forms a critical support to the country’s economy, and we must make sure it is appropriately maintained to facilitate healthy and robust commerce,” said U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
“We must reach a long-term solution, and that’s why I believe decisions about Highway Trust Fund dollars should be up to the states rather than mandated by the federal government,” Portman said. “The states know their infrastructure needs better than Washington, and I believe this flexibility is a solution to help stretch these already limited funds.”
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, added, “Strong infrastructure is vital to the success of Ohio families and business — especially in places like Mahoning County, where industries rely on roads, ports and railways to efficiently move their goods. When our roads are in good shape and our bridges are safe, Ohio can export its products and support local jobs.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, said, “This report highlights what I’ve been saying for years: The federal government does not adequately fund infrastructure improvement. The primary cause for this is the lack of cooperation from a Republican-controlled Congress that continues to do its best to defund transportation funding programs.
“The United States is currently ranked 19th in the world for investments in infrastructure, and the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Ohio’s highways a D grade for its lack of improvement.”
Ryan is a member of the House Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee. He said, “I look forward to an upcoming hearing with the secretary of transportation to reinforce the need for increased levels of funding for infrastructure.”
“What we should be starting to see here is more insertions in these transportation bills when they come up federally, so that specific projects in each district are targeted and funded,” said Traficanti, who was an aide to former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., who died last year.
“We really have to start our lobbying efforts,” he added.
“It’s really discouraging listening to the numbers,” said Commissioner David Ditzler, noting that $25 million in federal money was spent 10 years ago to build the Covelli Centre downtown.
Less than 4 percent of the money from the federal stimulus bill of 2009 that was designed to help the country out of the Great Recession went to infrastructure improvements, Ginnetti said.
The federally funded Mahoning County projects include those that already have been completed and some that are scheduled for construction in the next few years, some of them in 2019.
The projects include several phases of widening of Western Reserve Road, the roundabout at Mathews and Sheridan roads that was completed last year, this year’s planned installation of a traffic light at South Avenue and McClurg Road, replacement of the Division Street bridge, and the forthcoming Five Points roundabout installation.
Road and bridge improvement projects take several years in the planning stages, Ginnetti noted.
“It takes a long time to get the money in place, get the studies done, justification and approval” before the projects can be designed and built, he said.