Nationwide Effort to Build Support for New Federal Highway and Transit Bill Begins in Columbia, Drivers Asked to Tell Congress to Help As New Employment Figures Show Five Percent of Local Construction Workers Lost Jobs This Year
A new national effort to push for passage of the long鈥揹elayed bill that provides federal funds to fix aging roads and unsafe bridges launched today with the unveiling of new billboard and online advertisements in Columbia. The effort, which will cover dozens of states during the coming weeks, is designed to educate the public about why passing a federal transportation bill is essential to improving road conditions in states like South Carolina.
鈥淭he reality is our communities can鈥檛 thrive and our businesses can鈥檛 grow if they are saddled with potholes and unsafe bridges,鈥 said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the two national groups sponsoring the effort, the Americans for Transportation Mobility and the Transportation Construction Coalition. 鈥淭he best route to a better transportation system for our country lies in getting Congress to do its job and pass the months鈥搇ate highway and transit bill.鈥
Turmail said that one out of every four bridges nationwide is either structurally unsound or functionally obsolete. Meanwhile poor road conditions contribute to roughly half of the nation鈥檚 highway fatalities. Aging and under鈥揷apacity roads also cost the U.S. economy over $80 billion annually and force drivers to waste over 2.8 billion gallons of fuel each year. He noted that nearly 80 percent of South Carolina's highway budget comes from the federal government.
Anyone who wants better roads, safer bridges, less traffic or better transit services should contact their local member of Congress and ask them to pass a new six鈥搚ear surface transportation bill, Turmail added. He noted that the multi鈥搚ear bill is needed so state transportation officials can plan major highway and bridge improvement projects.
released today by the Associated General Contractors of America showing that five percent of Columbia鈥檚 construction workers lost their jobs between July 2009 and 2010, Turmail added that a new surface transportation bill would help boost local employment. He noted that, unfortunately, Columbia wasn鈥檛 alone, with 276 out of 337 cities nationwide losing construction jobs over the past year.
鈥淲e need to pass a transportation bill that will put people to work shoring up our aging infrastructure,鈥 said Congressman James Clyburn, who helped unveil the new campaign. 鈥淓nacting a comprehensive transportation law will be the best boost we can give to the economy right now while we improve the safety and security of our roads and bridges.鈥
The last surface transportation bill expired on Sept. 30, 2009, and since then Congress has passed a series of short鈥搕erm measures to ensure states continue to receive federal transportation funds. Turmail noted that those short鈥搕erm 鈥減atches鈥 fail to address shortfalls in federal highway funding caused by declining gas tax receipts since Americans increasingly are driving fuel efficient cars.
The effort, which is being backed by a range of business groups including the Americans for Transportation Mobility, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Transportation Construction Coalition, will include billboard and newspaper advertisements in Columbia. For more information about the state of the nation鈥檚 highways and transit systems, or about the campaign for a new surface transportation bill, please visit . View .
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