BESTEA Pavement Pork | Citizens Against Government Waste

BESTEA Pavement Pork

Press Release

For Immediate Release
March 30, 1998

 

The following list of authorized transportation programs was taken from the committee report on the Building Efficient Surface Transportation and Equity Act of 1998 (Rpt. 105-467).

Advanced Technology Pilot Project (Sec. 312).  Authorizes the transportation secretary to spend $30 million over 6 years “for the development of low-speed magnetic levitation (mag-lev) technology for public transportation purposes.”

Appalachian Transportation Institute (Sec. 624).  $12 million over 6 years to establish an Appalachian Transportation Institute at Marshall University.  Located in Huntington, West Virginia, the district of Transportation Committee member Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.).

Commercial Truck Stop Parking (Sec. 132).  Authorizes $1.5 million over 3 years to study parking facilities at commercial truck stops.

Cuyahoga River Bridge (Sec. 133).  Authorizes the use of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds for the construction of a new bridge over the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio.  Located in district of Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (Sec. 624).  Authorizes the Transportation Secretary to establish and implement a transportation research fellowship program to attract qualified students to the field of transportation.  Up to $12 million over 6 years.

Infrastructure Documentary (Sec. 132).  Authorizes $3 million over 3 years to produce a television documentary about infrastructure “in cooperation with a not-for-profit national public television station and the National Academy of Engineering.”

Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute (Sec. 624).  $12 million for the Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis.  Located in the district of Rep. Martin Sabo (D-Minn.).

Kennedy Center Funding (Sec. 117).  $500,000 to study improved access to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Mon-Fayette Expressway (Sec. 136).  Amends the 1991 ISTEA act to make the Mon-Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway in Pennsylvania a “high-priority corridor.”

National Scenic Byways Program and Center (Sec. 118).  Authorizes $9 million over 6 years for the National Scenic Byways Program and the construction of a National Scenic Byways Center in Duluth, Minn.  Located in the district of the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.).

New River Parkway Visitors Center (Sec. 117).  $12.4 million (total for fiscal years l998-2000) shall be allocated from the Federal Lands Highways Program to the Secretary of the Interior for the planning, design, and construction of a visitors center.  There are five existing National Park Service Visitor Centers within 25 miles of the proposed location.  Located in the district of Transportation Committee member Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.).

Smithsonian Institution Transportation Program (Sec. 117).  $30 million over 6 years for the Smithsonian Institution to complete the transfer of aviation and space artifacts to the new National Air and Space Museum facility in Dulles, Virginia, and to renovate the transportation halls of the National Museum of American History (mostly costs associated with moving the locomotives).