Highway bill rolling despite tight budget
A massive federal highway bill that allocates millions of dollars for Going-to-the-Sun Road and the Kalispell bypass is unlikely to be affected by President Bush's tight budget proposal, a congressional staffer said on Tuesday.
However, that doesn't mean an extra $30 million to $60 million can be found to cover a recently announced cost increase for the bypass.
"I haven't seen the revised figures, so it's difficult to comment on the likelihood of coming up with more money. But we're sure going to try; the bypass is high on Denny's agenda," said Erik Iverson, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont.
Rehberg and U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., both included funding for the bypass and for the Sun Road reconstruction in a six-year highway construction bill.
The bill was initially scheduled for approval last spring. However, the House and Senate couldn't agree on its final size; the Senate wanted $318 billion in spending, compared to $275 billion in the House. After negotiating unsuccessfully for several months, the matter was postponed in October for eight months, until after the presidential election.
Iverson said a compromise agreement could be reached in the near future.
"The House and Senate leadership have both said this is a top priority," he said. "We're getting closer to agreeing on a final figure. It will likely fall in between [the $275 billion and $318 billion versions]. My guess is we'll see some movement on the bill this spring."
The highway construction funding is not part of President Bush's $2.57 trillion fiscal 2006 budget proposal, which reportedly reduces or eliminates allocations for 154 different government programs. Consequently, Iverson said it shouldn't be affected by the federal belt-tightening.
"The highway bill is paid for out of user fees and gas taxes," he said. "The president's budget should have no impact on it. It's a separate argument."
Baucus, who previously secured at least $6.5 million for the project, could not be reached for comment regarding the prospects for the highway bill or for more bypass money.
When combined with the $22 million that's included in the six-year spending plan, that was expected to be enough to pay for the 8-mile project, which would allow U.S. 93 traffic to bypass downtown Kalispell.
However, recent design changes, higher traffic projections and more accurate cost estimates have driven the total price to about $93.5 million - which doesn't cover right of way acquisition or utility relocation costs.
The Department of Transportation has been meeting with Kalispell officials to try and pare this back to something more affordable. They were able to identify a number of changes, but even the modified version would cost an estimated $58 million.
A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for April 7 to give people an opportunity to see the latest design proposals for the bypass. By that time, there may be more certainty regarding the fate of the federal highway bill.