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“I keep going over a sentence. I nag it, gnaw it, pat and flatter it.”
- Janet Flanner |
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ATM Insider |
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| May 2005 |
TALKING TRANSPORTATION: "Transportation seems to be perpetually No. 11 on everyone's list of top 10 public issues. ...In fact, transportation probably belongs no lower than No. 5 on our list of local public issues, after education, crime, healthcare, and jobs."
Source: Alan Pisarski, Commuting in America
WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE?
Message from the Executive Director
This month in the ATM Insider, we look into an interesting case study concerning how North Carolina and South Carolina have come together to move forward with a critical I-73/74 corridors project and to ensure that this plan doesn't amount to just a few leaders' pipe dreams. Read the full message
Eye on I-73
In South Carolina, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has been a bellwether in advocating for and ensuring that the proposed I-73/I-74 corridors partnership/project is on elected officials' radar screens both regionally and nationally. Read more about the I-73/I-74 Corridors Project
News and Wrap-Up
Transportation, funding and infrastructure issues may get coverage by the mainstream media mainly when reauthorizations roll around, but they are issues that are significant to the public and local media outlets on an ongoing basis. Read the news round-up
A Little Southern Hospitality Goes A Long Way for Transportation
This month in the ATM Insider, we look into an interesting case study concerning how South Carolina and North Carolina have come together to move forward with a critical I-73/74 corridors project and to ensure that this plan doesn't amount to just a few leaders' pipe dreams.
Several months back - before these two states struck a partnership and a needed agreement - I went to South Carolina for a summit that was held on this issue. There I was able to reinforce for transportation advocates, regional officials and those interested in improving the state and Myrtle Beach's economies and transportation infrastructure how consensus/joint action can provide political and legislative entrée in Washington, D.C. It was invigorating to see how two sides that were previously stymied in their dialogue with one another sought, and subsequently found, common ground through goal-sharing and a little give and take.
Many communities have been successful in putting together regional coalitions to ensure adequate state and federal funding.
Congress took another step in moving towards completing TEA-21 reauthorization. On May 17, the U.S. Senate voted 89-11 for a $295 billion highway and transit bill. The House had previously approved a $284 billion bill. ATM urges you to ask your congressional delegation to support maximum funding levels and to complete work on the bill promptly. The legislation is over 20 months late, and a seventh extension will be needed. (I know I repeatedly ask you in my monthly column to share with your elected officials the importance of this bill and that you've heard this message many times. But each of you does very important work when you share this priority with the people who can make it happen.)
Finally, we conclude the newsletter by highlighting the importance - to the nation's economy - of moving freight. The need to have a seamless transportation network is critical, and while some may call it "pork" and make other such clichéd and naïve assessments, we believe it's an investment in our nation as well as in the quality of life future generations will enjoy.
-ED MORTIMER Executive Director, Americans for Transportation Mobility
Highlighting I-73 & Myrtle Beach
- I-73 will begin in Horry County, South Carolina, and run through Marion, Dillon and Marlboro counties. Heading north, it crosses through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio and ends in Michigan.
- South Carolina's I-73 portion will be about 80 miles and is estimated to cost $1.5 to $2 billion.
- The projected traffic count is 60,000 vehicles per day.
- Knowing that the feds will not likely fund the majority/all of the I-73 project, state and local officials had the foresight to lay some of the road groundwork for the eventuality of I-73 coming to South Carolina. Through its Road Improvement Development Effort (RIDE), Myrtle Beach began in 1998 constructing to interstate standards two roads - Veterans Highway (SC 22) and Carolina Bays Parkway (SC 31) that can eventually connect to I-73 and I-74, respectively. This was done to the tune of about $1 billion.
- The RIDE plan was funded through a "hospitality fee" on lodging and food/beverage purchases.
- Even environmentalists support the I-73 project. The South Carolina Coastal Conservation League put in writing that it would not oppose the project if I-73 connects with Highway 22 and ends in Myrtle Beach.
- Interestingly, Myrtle Beach is one of the tourist destination areas that has shown moderate growth since 9/11. Its airport, which is already handling more than twice its capacity, makes the need for an interstate even more critical since the city has limited infrastructure modes.
- During peak weeks in the summer every year, 500,000 make the trek to Myrtle Beach.
Sources: South Carolina I-73 Association; Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce; and South Carolina Department of Transportation
Myrtle Beach Area Chamber Helps Drive I-73/I-74 Corridors Construction & Issue
Every day, millions of people drive on U.S. interstates and probably take for granted the infrastructure that allows them to get to work, move goods, cross into other regions, visit faraway relatives, conduct business in other areas and get to vacation destinations. But rarely do these drivers know the backstories, the key players and the fight for federal funding and recognition that make up the vibrant and interesting histories behind how our National Highway System evolved and is still evolving.
Indeed, with every interstate, there is a narrative of which many in the general public aren't aware.
They may hear about small disputes or controversies which arise, but that is hardly the big picture. Planning, funding and building an interstate takes years and requires consensus with nearby jurisdictions and buy-in from elected officials. Also, it used to be the case that the feds provided about 90 percent of the funding for new interstates but that share has dwindled dramatically, according to Michael Covington, deputy director for executive support at the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
In this millennium, municipalities have to be extremely savvy when embarking on new transportation projects.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - a popular vacation spot with 120 golf courses and 60 miles of beaches - Brad Dean is one of the key players who can share the narrative behind the Grand Strand's quest to see the construction and funding of I-73 come to fruition. Myrtle Beach is one of the largest family resort destinations in the country, but it does not have an interstate that runs to it. Each year, 13 million tourists visit Myrtle Beach, with 95 percent driving there. And each year, the issue of I-73 becoming a reality looms on the horizon.
As part of the I-73/I-74 corridors project, I-73 will eventually connect Michigan and South Carolina via North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio.
"Even though tourism is the state's number one industry and in our particular area, we are one-third of the state's tourism economy, we simply don't have the roads we need. We're just now starting to build the roads we needed 15 years ago and we're over an hour away from the nearest interstate access," says Dean, president and chief executive officer of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber has 2,300 paying members and a $10 million budget and has been led by Dean since he was promoted from chief financial officer to CEO in 2003. Dean came to Myrtle Beach when his former employer, the Rank Organization, handpicked him to open up a Hard Rock Café in the booming city. The restaurant opened in 1995 and Dean's introduction to the area's transportation problems quickly began.
"One of the most vivid memories I have is that as a restaurateur the most common complaint I got daily - and I mean several times a day - was customers that would be on vacation sitting in the restaurant and would say, 'What are you doing about your roads?' and I would hear these horror stories [from people who would say] 'I've been coming here for 20 years but I'm never going to come again.'"
Deal Me In Dean
A decade after hearing those stories and becoming impassioned about improving South Carolina's transportation infrastructure, Dean is one of many advocates tirelessly championing for I-73 and promoting the new interstate to the media, residents, stakeholders and elected officials and their staffs.
It is impossible in this ATM Insider piece to identify everyone who has contributed to the process and the project. But Dean, nonetheless, serves as an example of how chambers of commerce spur infrastructure improvements and promote the benefit of full federal transportation funding.
"The lack of an interstate has put a stranglehold on the cash cow for the state - the Myrtle Beach tourism market - but it's also limited us as to what we could ever hope to do in terms of economic diversification," explains Dean.
Increasing Myrtle Beach's tourism revenues is an obvious component in the area's support of I-73 but Dean emphasizes other important benefits, including:
- Improved safety: I-73 would be a primary evacuation (or feeder) route in the case of a hurricane or other disaster.
- Jobs would be created: Counties outside of Myrtle Beach are economically depressed and suffering from record-number unemployment. Conservative estimates are that 50,000 new jobs, including ones in tourism and construction, will be created.
- Economic strength: An interstate promises economic diversity because it can be a catalyst for a range of industries and businesses looking to base operations nearby.
I Want My I-73
Today, through the reauthorization of the federal highway and transit legislation and advocacy for I-73 on a federal level, South Carolina has attained legislative support, congressional interest and is positioned to secure partial funding for this crucial undertaking. Advocates' attempts to get the issue before federal decision-makers has been just as important as triggering grassroots and regional interest in I-73.
Recent history is just one tale in the narrative. More than two decades ago, Congress proposed creating I-73, but the move came sans any funding or immediate action. In the 1990's, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) designated I-73 as a high priority.
Now, fast-forward to today: What has happened in the past few years through the work of transportation advocates and business leaders such as Dean is what provides the most vivid narrative behind I-73.
In February of this year, the SCDOT and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) - both had been stalled in their communication efforts with one another - agreed on where I-73 will enter South Carolina after the SCDOT hosted a summit for the Carolinas.
The unprecedented agreement was hailed by the press and referred to as an "interstate pact." The summit, which was bolstered by two resolutions signed by transportation officials in each respective state, was undoubtedly a turning point, according to several sources.
Currently, the I-73/I-74 project corridors look like this: I-74 comes in at one location in North Carolina and I-73 comes in at another location in North Carolina. South of Greensboro, the two merge and from that point to Rockingham, N.C., it is I-73/I-74. South of Rockingham, it splits again and I-74 follows US 74 toward Wilmington and I-73 (via the agreement and if environmental assessments permit) enters South Carolina near Highway 38.
When the two sides eked out an agreement on where the interstate would enter one state and leave the other, the move set in motion an important stage in promoting major transportation projects. Dealing with regional roadblocks, forming coalitions and/or relying on teamwork/consensus helps when lobbying for funding and earmarks and when procuring attention in Washington, D.C.
In fact, an avid supporter of funding I-73 and reauthorizing the highway and transit bill has been Congressman Henry E. Brown Jr. (SC-01). When the U.S. House in March passed H.R. 3 - "The Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users" (TEA-LU) - Brown said: "In comparison to the previous six-year bill, H.R. 3 represents a $600 million increase in investment to highways, transit and safety program for the state of South Carolina."
Reauthorizing the federal highway and transit legislation reinforces the corridor's priority status and means South Carolina will be able to recommend projects such as I-73 to receive federal funding under what is called "highways of national significance," reminds Covington.
Northern Exposure
One of the players Dean credits with helping spearhead a dialogue between the two states - along with the vital agreement - is G.R. Kindley. He was mayor of Rockingham, North Carolina, for 20 years and is vice chairman of the North Carolina Board of Transportation. Kindley says he has been lobbying for years for a designation for an interstate to run through central North Carolina and encouraged the recent decision that was made between North Carolina and South Carolina.
While Kindley knows that these kinds of transportation projects take many, many years to complete, the reward, he says, is what is put in place for the next generation. "It has been very exciting and very rewarding to work on something of this magnitude and see the fruits of your labor," he adds.
Dean agrees but he also sees the challenges that early advocates faced.
Dean recalls being in the CEO slot for about three weeks when he went to an I-73 corridors association meeting and uncovered - for lack of a better term - a multi-fold crisis. One, three of the six states had no representation. Two, there was "no intention" on the part of any full-scale congressional or state delegation to push for earmarks or funding. Three, there was a rumor that the corridor might be redrawn to exclude South Carolina. And four, there needed to be credible people spotlighting South Carolina's high-priority corridor regionally and nationally.
As a result of that meeting several years ago, local stakeholders knew that they had to work proactively and strategically to make I-73 more than a flash-in-the-pan. They also formed the South Carolina I-73 Association.
"What we have done in the last 18 months essentially that has worked that wasn't done back then ... is number one, there was not a regional or multi-state collaborative effort. It was local contingencies talking about their needs and hoping for funding - and I contrast that with today where the approach we've taken is it's not going to get done if it's simply for one industry or one area. We've got to define the need and the potential funding for every leg of that road."
Another key shift, says Dean, is that advocates no longer rely "upon letter writing and phone calls." Instead, their fight for I-73 happens face-to-face. There have been multiple trips to the South Carolina House of Representatives and to Washington, D.C., to lobby for I-73 and possible priority funding as well as attempts to address various stakeholders' concerns and needs.
In fact, in February of 2004, a year before the milestone agreement, 150 people from the Myrtle Beach area (business leaders, educators, environmentalists, chamber executives, local and state officials, the head of the state's tourism office and farmers) went to D.C. to make their case in the city where politicians are the de facto keepers of fate.
"We've since followed up," adds Dean. "[For instance], in the last 12 months, I know I've been in D.C. six times and it's now to the point that when they see us, they don't even ask what we're here for. They say, 'okay, let us tell you about the interstate project.' I think it's moved the project from being one of a possibility to one of a priority and the discussion is no longer if we're going to get an interstate, it's how and when."
WHAT'S IN THE NEWS?
Just say no: In Massachusetts, state officials said they would "politely decline a congressional invitation to begin charging tolls on some interstate highways" - even if it meant raising funding to maintain busy roadways, according to an April 27, 2005, article in the Lowell Sun (Lowell, Mass.) The comments were apparently made in connection with a congressional debate over changing federal highway laws to allow states to raise money through interstate tolls.
Troubled bridges over water? In Illinois, State Transportation Secretary Tim Martin said recent bridge inspections found that some had "deteriorated faster than expected," according to a May 4, 2005, article in the Chicago Sun-Times. As a result, the state is pushing up more than $30 million worth of bridge work and repairs by about eight years.
Waiting for the funding windfall: On a congressional and national level, reauthorizing important federal transportation legislation might seem a little like inside baseball to those who travel outside political circles, but for states and municipalities throughout this nation, these monies are critical. In New Mexico, for instance, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) told officials and the news media that passing TEA-21 provides the potential for federal funding for interchange renovations as well as for commuter rail line and rapid transit projects.
And now for the answer: A group of Columbia University graduate students found a solution to a problem concerning the Tappan Zee Bridge corridor and traffic problems in Westerchester County, N.Y., and received "rave reviews" from elected officials, activists and planners from both sides of the Hudson River, The Journal News reported May 4, 2005. Apparently the New York State Thruway Authority and Metro-North Railroad have divvied out about $23 million since 2000 to chart the corridor's future and have been unable to whittle down possible solutions. The students' answer? A new bridge that incorporates buses as its mass transit component.
The public pulpit? When it comes to citizens' concerns, it's highly unlikely that the public's interest in issues such as good schools, affordable housing, a diverse business base and low crime rates will overshadow transportation issues. But make no mistake: the public also pays close attention to issues such as traffic congestion and gaps in transportation funding and planning. Illustrating that point are two letters that were published in the Wisconsin State Journal May 9, 2005. One suggested that companies might have to rely on flex hours with people leaving in 15-minute intervals so employees can better cope with rush-hour frustrations. And another questioned why the state is allowing the transfer of "millions from monies paid by Wisconsin motorists in fuel and vehicle taxes out of the transportation budget."
Jam session: The Washington Post delivered readers less-than-delightful news May 10, 2005, when it published that "gridlock has increased its stranglehold on the region, as a national study released yesterday showed that Washington area residents spend an average of 69 hours a year in traffic jams at a cost of $577 per commuter." The study was completed by the Texas Transportation Institute and based on 2003 statistics. The probe also found that congestion is getting worse in metropolitan areas where too few roads and rail lines are being built.
Terminator terminates plans: The Sacramento Bee reported May 12, 2005, that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was backing off plans to "borrow from the state's gas tax-funded transportation account." In other California-related news, The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.) had some promising news in its May 11, 2005, issue. The paper reported estimates of new transportation funding of $500 million to $1 billion or more. Residents of the Coachella Valley were told that high priority safety and maintenance projects might soon get the fiscal go-ahead.
We're not in Kansas anymore: A story in the May 17, 2005, issue of The Journal Record (Oklahoma City, Okla.) juxtaposed Kansas and Oklahoma's highway systems and questioned why Kansas' is often seen as an example of a properly maintained highway system while Oklahoma's, on the other hand, falls short of that goal. (The comparison was made because the two states' economies and geography are similar.) The article concludes - and the lesson is - that the difference stems from Kansas making roads "a high priority" according to department of transportation officials there. Kansas spends a little under $12,000 per lane mile, while Oklahoma spends about $6,000 per lane mile on its highways.
Big-Apple goodies: The New York Post's May 18, 2005, issue called the Senate's backing of a six-year transportation spending plan "a goody-packed bill" and noted that it will help create jobs and improve New York's transportation infrastructure substantially.
THE ATM WRAP-UP
Our "Last Word": "Freight railroads are critical to the economic well-being and global competitiveness of the United States. They move 42 percent of our nation's freight (measured in ton-miles) - everything from lumber to vegetables, coal to orange juice, grain to automobiles, and chemicals to scrap iron - and connect businesses with each other across the country and with markets overseas. They also contribute billions of dollars each year to the economy through investments, wages, purchases, and taxes." Source: Association of American Railroads.
Dates of Interest
Tuesday, May 31
TEA-21 extension expires
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