Obama plan could quickly revive I-15, Mountain View freeway projects

Obama plan could quickly revive I-15, Mountain View freeway projects
By Brandon Loomis
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:11/26/2008 06:46:40 AM MST

Interstate 15 and the Mountain View freeway could get a federal lift out of the budget ditch.
The massive economic "jump-start" advocated by President-elect Barack Obama could recharge those projects and others in Utah that went dark last week.
Officials in Washington and Salt Lake City agree that Utah is unusually prepared to capitalize on an envisioned stimulus plan that would pour hundreds of billions of dollars into roads and bridges. The state stalled major planned projects -- including Interstate 15 reconstruction in Utah County -- because of plunging sales taxes, but not before securing environmental permits that could make its roads a ready recipient of federal funds.
"We can turn the switch on very quickly," Utah Department of Transportation deputy director Carlos Braceras said Tuesday.
UDOT last week shelved all projects not currently under contract, a list adding up to $3.9 billion. Among them are the I-15 rebuild in Utah County and a start to the Mountain View freeway in western Salt Lake County.
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, said an infusion of federal road dollars probably would reach the Beehive State.
"To the extent that there are projects that are ready to go -- for example I-15 in Utah County -- clearly they are well-positioned to hit the ground running," he said. Infrastructure generally is a good government investment, he added, because "it's how we compete with the rest of the world."
"Utah is ahead of most states in having projects that are ready," said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who met Tuesday with Weber County commissioners and mayors.
Matheson and Bennett cautioned that there are scant details about a stimulus package. Matheson said he would need to review the details, including whether highway work would be paid through open-ended deficits, before deciding how to vote.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, also withheld judgment on the stimulus plan. "Support for another stimulus package may hinge on how fiscally sound it is and whether it can meet the demands of the House to offset the cost," Hatch said in an e-mailed response.
Obama told reporters at a Chicago news conference Tuesday that he would reduce budget deficits, but only after a quick emergency jolt to the economy.
The Associated Press estimated his plan at between $500 billion and $700 billion.
"We're more confident than we've ever been that we will see something for infrastructure pretty quickly with the new administration," UDOT's Braceras said.
If Congress grants Utah as much as the $2.6 billion needed to rebuild and widen I-15 in the state's second-most-populous county, it could even mean an expedited schedule for that project.
Mindful that road projects take notoriously long to inject wages into the economy, congressional staffers are asking states which roads and bridges they can start building within three months of a stimulus plan's passage, Braceras said.
Originally, UDOT hadn't planned to start I-15 work until late 2009. It could move up, Braceras said, as could Mountain View. If Congress requires a local match, he said, UDOT could find it -- even if it meant siphoning from other current road projects. Getting the federal match would be worth that.
Without federal aid, the state must decide whether restarting I-15 and other projects is worth a rare gas tax or other revenue hike. Lawmakers last week said they would consider such options in the upcoming legislative session.