DATE: Monday, September 8, 1997             TAG: 9709080066

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   56 lines

HOUSE TRANSPORTATION LEADERS PUSH FOR MORE APPALACHIAN ROAD MONEY

House transportation leaders are trying to shave decades off construction of the 3,025-mile Appalachian highway system by dedicating money from federal gasoline taxes for the first time.

A bill to be considered by a House subcommittee this week would set aside up to $400 million a year from a highway account financed by taxes that motorists pay at the pump.

That is at least four times greater than the expected fiscal 1998 spending from the general fund.

``We're very pleased about this new level of interest in completing our highway system,'' said Jesse White, the regional commission's federal representative.

The highway program was launched 32 years ago to boost rural economies in the 13-state Appalachian region.

With construction costs increasing, though, the program has come under attack in Congress by those who think the country cannot afford to keep building more highways.

``There are 13 states in the Appalachian region, and they're already getting a healthy amount of money in (regular) funding,'' said David Hirsch, transportation policy coordinator for Friends of the Earth, an environmental group in Washington. ``This money is on top of that.''

The Appalachian money is included in a $103.2 billion transportation bill introduced Thursday by leaders of the House Transportation Committee.

Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Budget Committee, has come out against the bill, although he did not cite the Appalachian program specifically and instead attacked the bill for exceeding balanced-budget spending caps.

Nevertheless, the program has powerful allies. Rep. Bud Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the transportation committee; Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., ranking Democrat on the House surface transportation subcommittee; and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, all hail from Appalachian states.

According to a report issued by the Appalachian commission last month, 22 percent of the highways remain to be built, representing ``the most difficult and expensive'' parts of the system - largely segments running through rough, mountainous terrain.

The program needs $6.2 billion more in federal money and would take more than a half-century longer to complete at current funding levels. Using the gas tax money would allow completion in 15 to 20 years, officials said.

In the meantime, motorists face bottlenecks when a four-lane stretch turns into an unfinished, two-lane segment.

``For this whole system to work, it needs to be stitched together,'' White said.

A Senate bill is to be announced this week.

The Appalachian highway system spans Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

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