I-89 Faces Future Budget Constraints

Funding for maintenance and repairs on I-89 was slashed this year, According to state officials. The decrease in funds can be attributed to the downgrade in Vermont’s fiscal budget this July, by $31 million, as well as decreased revenue from the “gas tax,” as consumers switch to more fuel-efficient vehicles and drive less often.

Convincing commuters to use more environmentally friendly methods of transportation, such as buses and hybrid cars, is a key facet of Governor Shumlin’s push for 90 percent renewable energy by 2050.

However, the green revolution sweeping the state and the early steps the administration has taken are starting to threaten the infrastructure of old. The gasoline tax is the main source of funding for bridge and road maintenance for both Vermont and the federal government.

As gas sales have steadily declined, funding for both federal and state transportation agencies has experienced a round of budget cuts, and officials say that such fiscal problems could signal more trouble for the future.

“Unfortunately with our current revenue stream, [saving gas] has a negative impact on our ability to invest in improving the roads and bridges on which [Vermonters] drive,” Deputy Secretary Sue Minter said.

Economists for the state say that the revenue from the gas tax will come in $2.5 million less than expected. The downgrade is below one percent of an approximately $700 million transportation budget.

“It’s not a huge deal, but it’s one we must respond to, and immediately go to thinking about the long term, and what sort of model replaces the gas tax over time,” Secretary of Transportation Brian Searles said.

The Federal Highway Trust Fund – the money that supports more than half of highway funding here in Vermont – nearly dried up last August, but Congress approved stopgap funding meant to keep highway project schedules on track until May of 2015. Thus, Vermonters and Middlebury students may experience firsthand the infastructure budget cuts next summer.

Currently, there is no plan to supply funding to the projects and maintenance that have already been planned. Searles said that the future of transportation funding is anything but secure. The Federal Highway Trust Fund is expected to run out by the beginning of Vermont’s busy summer construction season, and Searles says that federal lawmakers aren’t even close to settling upon a plan that would restore long-term stability to transportation revenues.

The revenue problems aren’t unique to Vermont. Searles says that Congress will need to adopt an alternative revenue structure if it hopes to raise enough money to maintain its current road and bridge infrastructure. One such idea would be to employ tollbooths or track the number of miles a vehicle travels.

Still, “It’s going to be a long national conversation before we ever get to the point where people are willing to submit their driving habits to scrutiny by the government in order to pay for the transportation system,” Searles said.