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Monday, December 15, 2003
FHWA 35-03
Contact: Ben Langer, 202-366-4570
Nancy Singer, 202-366-0660; Cell,
202-493-9811
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Holds Road Rally in Little Rock; Champions New Transportation Investment in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, AR—U.S. Transportation Secretary
Norman Y. Mineta and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee today were joined by a host
of construction workers and top area business leaders at a major road rally
championing new transportation investments for Arkansas. Secretary Mineta also
called on Congress to pass a Bush Administration proposal that would provide the
state with over $2.3 billion in highway and transit funds.
The rally was held at a major construction project of a new bridge at the
I-30 Overpass and Baseline Road in Little Rock. The Secretary said the
Administration’s six-year $247 billion proposal would help boost the state’s
economy by creating jobs, speeding up needed transportation improvements and
increasing the movement of goods and products along the I-30 corridor and
throughout Arkansas. The Secretary said the President’s proposal was critical
to continuing the state’s aggressive Interstate highway maintenance program,
which would rebuild more than half of Arkansas’ 655-mile Interstate highway
system in approximately five years.
“Hard working folks like those here today are not just building roads
in Arkansas, they’re building a stronger, better America,” Secretary Mineta
said. “They’re doing their part, and they need the Congress to do the same by
passing the President’s record-level investment proposal and helping Arkansas
invest in the state’s most ambitious transportation improvement plan ever.”
Secretary Mineta said that the administration’s proposal would ensure
that important highway projects proceed on schedule, saving critical jobs and
enabling communities like Little Rock to thrive through freight movement, safer
roads and less congested highways.
The Bush Administration’s $247 billion surface transportation
reauthorization proposal, called the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient
Transportation Equity Act of 2003 (SAFETEA), would be the largest highway,
transit and safety investment in U.S. history. It would continue to funnel the
vast majority of federal funds surface transportation through core programs that
give states maximum flexibility to tailor these funds to their specific needs.
SAFETEA would provide Arkansas $2.3 billion over six years for
infrastructure maintenance and improvements for highway and transit facilities.
The President’s proposal would more than double the funding under existing law
for the state’s highway safety-related programs, and other programs aimed at
reducing congestion and protecting the environment.
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