Re: (WV) Official: Tolls may become inevitable

Larry G <gross.larry@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Apr 9, 5:30 pm, John Lansford <jlnsf...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Larry G <gross.la...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Don't put projects on a list unless you have secured funding for that
project - and that includes the inflation factors.

Each project on a list.. besides having secured funding should show
the build date AND it should show the actual inflation-adjusted cost
for THAT projected build date.

In other words.. the "list" is a real list that WILL get built.

So what happens when the project that is on the "funded and scheduled"
list suddenly gets delayed or canceled, Larry? You only have exactly
enough projects for the money being appropriated, so the money goes
unused, right? You realize Federal highway money doesn't carry over,
don't you? IOW, if the state tells the FHWA that this gas tax money
will be spent this fiscal year, and suddenly a project gets moved to
another year, the money in the earlier year reverts back to the Fed if
it isn't spent.

Do you think that's a good idea, or wouldn't you think it would be
preferable to have a set of projects available to use that money on in
case one got delayed?

John - the bottom line is that there are way more projects than there
is funding for... I know you have to be "pre-staging" some projects
and have contingency plans to move forward on other projects if
unanticipated delays happen

but MANY of the projects I see in Virginia.. sit on lists.. waiting
for money... and while they sit on those lists... they are often not
updated to show the increased costs due to inflation.

A delayed project - for any reason - becomes a more expensive
project.. and yet the effects of inflation.. often are not shown and
that ..in turn leads to more delays .. waiting for the additional
money...

I've see projects locally .. that have waited ten years and in that
length of time the costs have doubled... this is not just one
project...

Of course it isn't just one project; states create a backlog of
projects of different types and costs so that they can be flexible
when it comes to delays from any kind of project. You cannot transfer
interstate money, for example, to a bridge replacement project on a
rural two lane road, and vice versa. You've got to have several
projects of each type available in case of delays.

And just because they are on the TIP for many years doesn't mean the
costs aren't being updated, or that the work is wasted. It's rare for
a project to start design work when there's no money to build it with;
in fact, the only times that happened to one of mine was when entire
blocks of projects got delayed in order to make up funding shortfalls
a few years ago. Before that once we started design work, we knew the
project was going to be let in a few years.

John Lansford, PE
--
John's Shop of Wood
http://wood.jlansford.net/
.

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