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Bush Signs $286.4 Billion Transportation Bill

By Daniela Deane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 10, 2005; 2:42 PM

Quotes:

President Bush signed into law a massive $286.4 billion transportation bill Wednesday that includes more than 6,000 pet projects of lawmakers across the country that range from a crucial parkway linking two interstates in Illinois to a snowmobile trail in Vermont.

Bush signed the 1,000-page bill at a Caterpillar Inc. factory in Montgomery, Ill., and called it a "fiscally responsible bill" that will upgrade the country's network of roads, bridges and mass transit systems. He said the six-year bill will "finance needed road improvements and ease traffic congestion in communities across the country."

Critics of the bill called it a bloated, expensive piece of legislation filled mainly with the pet projects of congressmen. Some of the transportation projects included in the bill were $223 million for a bridge to replace a 7-minute ferry ride in Alaska, $2.3 million for landscaping along the Ronald Reagan freeway in California and $400,000 for bicycle and trolley trails in Columbus, Ga.

Bush said one of the key projects of the bill was a parkway in Illinois that would connect two interstate highways. He called such projects "crucial for economic progress."

Officials say substandard road conditions are a factor in nearly one-third of the country's 42,000 traffic fatalities a year. They also say that every $1 billion spent in highway construction creates 47,500 jobs.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company