Audit warns against using more money for local transit projects
Portland Tribune, February, 21, 2013
No cost estimates have been developed for the [Southwest Corridor] plan. But a recent audit says Portland needs to start spending an additional $85 million a year during the next 10 years on street maintenance. That’s eight times the current level, an amount the city will be hard-pressed to find. The City Council only approved $115 million in discretionary transportation spending for the current fiscal year.
“This audit is incendiary. It’s a wake-up call. It costs far less to maintain streets in good condition than it costs to restore neglected streets. As much as 10 times more. We have to act now,” [Mayor Charlie] Hales said Tuesday.
But the city audit blamed spending on regional and transit projects for contributing to the maintenance backlog that threatens the viability of city’s street system, valued at $5 billion. It specifically mentioned the Sellwood Bridge replacement project, the Portland Streetcar, and the Portland-to-Milwaukie light-rail project as examples. According to the audit, in addition to sidewalks, the transit projects all received discretionary transportation funds that could have been spent on street maintenance.
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Lest you think this is Portland's problem alone, take a look at where the funding for light rail and streetcars is coming from: the federal and state governments, Trimet, Metro, Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah Counties (depending on the location of the project), and local jurisdictions. The Feds pay half, and then it gets easier to raise the rest, and they think they can continue to borrow and build until they can't.
This is a caution for all municipalities - guard the maintenance funds - plan for road infrastructure upkeep before even thinking about so-called "improvements" to transit systems and new bike and ped paths take a back seat to needed repairs. You can't build a city with a crumbling base and without popular support.
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