Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991                   TAG: 9102140132
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

HIGHWAY REVAMP PROPOSED/ STATES WOULD PAY HIGHER SHARE

The five-year, $105 billion administration proposal calls for the federal government to increase spending on highways and transit without raising taxes. But the federal share of the costs of projects would drop significantly in most programs, shifting more of the burden onto state and local governments, which, in turn, may ask taxpayers to make up the difference.

Kicking off what is expected to be a long and contentious effort in Congress this year to enact a new program, Bush and Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner told transportation industry leaders Wednesday that the president's plan was a good starting point.

The highway plan, which would largely replace 35-year-old legislation that built the 43,000-mile federal interstate highway system, is one of the administration's major domestic initiatives. The program, like the current one, would be financed largely from a trust fund consisting of revenue from motor fuels taxes.

Drivers can expect no significant increase in the number of highways built, officials said, but would see more repairs and widening of existing roads that may decrease congestion. Urban areas could expect to see more rush-hour carpool lanes, toll roads on federal highways and high-tech traffic control systems that warn drivers of problems.

Congress probably will alter the proposal. Lawmakers and industry officials said Wednesday they liked parts of the plan, such as ending most categorical grants to states and cities and allowing them to spend federal transportation money as they choose. But the officials complained that shifting the burden to the states was unfair since states already have been increasing fuel taxes.

Some congressional Democrats and industry officials said they want to increase the amount of federal spending, noting that some experts believe the nation will need between $1 trillion and $3 trillion to repair its crumbling roads and bridges. About $14 billion is spent annually on highways now; the proposal calls for an increase to $20 billion by 1996.

Under Bush's proposal, the federal government would spend $87.7 billion over five years on a restructured highway system that includes a new, 150,000-mile National Highway System consisting of the current interstate system and other important roads.

A second system of 700,000 miles of urban and rural roads also would be created; states could decide within this program to spend federal money on roads or transit. A bridge program would provide money to fix existing bridges.