By Jon Hilkevitch, Tribune reporter, December 25, 2008
Putting Illinois residents to
work repairing roads and bridges is a top priority among public
officials who count on getting millions of dollars in federal
economic stimulus funds in early 2009.
But the state's track record of too much politicking and too
little discipline over project selection creates a risk that the
one-time-only infrastructure bailout could be frittered away,
according to planning and transportation experts.
"Nobody should get a blank check," said Randy
Blankenhorn, executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan
Agency for Planning. "There needs to be accountability,
based on need and performance."
The expected federal stimulus package is aimed at relatively
short-term projects that are ready to begin almost immediately
and will serve as a foundation for state-supported improvements
that strengthen transportation infrastructure.
Congressional leaders are working toward approval of a roughly $700
billion economic recovery package for infrastructure funding in
transportation, schools, water-treatment plants and other areas.
President-elect Barack Obama said he wants the
legislation on his desk the day he takes office to launch a
massive public works program along the lines of the historic
Works Progress Administration that put millions of Americans to
work under Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal initiative.
About 4,000 shovel-ready projects totaling more than $15 billion
have been identified nationwide, setting up a fierce competition
between the states.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has provided the Obama transition team with
about 300 transportation projects estimated to cost $2.4 billion
and put about 94,000 people to work in the state.
Concern exists that elected officials not be permitted to use any
federal windfall as a substitute for coming up with a state
capital-improvement spending plan for long-term projects.
Illinois lawmakers have not passed a state capital program in
almost a decade, leading to a backlog of deferred maintenance and
delays in roadway and mass-transit capacity-expansion projects.
Projects that can have a large impact should make up the core of
any stimulus package, the experts said. Examples include
improving the region's mass-transit systems by building new Metra
commuter rail stations, eliminating all Chicago Transit Authority
slow zones, purchasing new trains and buses and modernizing the
congested rail freight network.
"The projects selected must have meaningful and lasting
value" to increase economic growth, Blankenhorn said. "We
only get one shot at this thing."
It will be extremely difficult to come up with projects that take
90 to 180 days to complete yet also produce long-term benefits,
said William Grams, an official in the state construction
industry.
Grams, who retired this month as the executive director of the
Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, suggested
Congress create a stimulus program that lasts for at least two
years in order to achieve short- and medium-range goals. Such a
program would help avoid the temptation to spend the money as
quickly as possible rather than focus on high-quality projects,
he said.
The association also said the federal stimulus grants should be
based on requirements that states have an active capital program
and that they be prohibited from using the federal dollars to
plug holes in their current transportation spending.
State transportation officials stressed that sustaining any
momentum that is created is central to rebuilding the economy.
The federal stimulus package primes the pump to get people back
to work, said Illinois Transportation Secretary Milton Sees.
"It restores the patient's vital signs, but you've got to
follow through with the necessary treatment or you haven't saved
the life," he said. "So federal help is no substitute
for the General Assembly passing a capital bill."