|
A SUN HERALD news article dated 8/10/05, titled, “Bush: Highway bill will spur the economy,” indicated that President Bush had signed the transportation bill. This is the same bill that was referred to above in the SUN HERALD articles dated 4/3/04 and 4/10/04.
A CLARION LEDGER news article, dated 8/11/05, titled, “Mississippi to get $2.5 (the above bill) Billion over 6 years,” revealed the following:
Critics said the 1,000-page transportation bill was weighed down with pet projects to benefit nearly ever member of Congress.
The state will get $2.5 billion during the next six years for various projects, from the widening of I-55 in north Mississippi to a connector road on the Gulf Coast.”
Mississippi is expected to receive an average of $400 million annually during the next six years.
“…there’s $70 million for a connector road to speed travel between U.S. 90 at the Port of Gulfport to I-10 near Canal Road.”
The above is the first public mention that $70 million was earmarked for the Gulfport Connector. As can be seen this is a huge change in the amount earmarked for south Mississippi since the information was revealed in the SUN HERALD articles dated 4/3/04 and 4/10/04, which stated that $45 million was designated for Congressman Gene Taylor’s district. Originally, $6.4 million was earmarked to the Gulfport Connector, according to “Taxpayers for Common Sense,” which track such expenditures.
$70 million may sound like a great deal of money, however to put this in perspective, $2.5 billion is real money. For instance, the population of Mississippi is 2.9 million. The $2.5 billion would be $833 per person in the state. The population of Harrison County is 189,000. At $833 per Harrison County resident, the sum of $157 million would be a fair share for Harrison County. Also, it should be remembered that this is the first time, in many years, that any significant federal funds have been earmarked to a project in Harrison County.
Worse still the project itself is a highly questionable project. The Canal Road Connector project started as a $15 million project in 1994 that utilized existing roadways. MDOT got involved and the budget went to $47.5 (Baker Study), as a four-lane, ground level roadway. Subsequently, MDOT turned the project into a six-lane elevated, $300 million dollar project for which it did not have funds. In addition, the MDOT plan would take out many Gulfport homes and businesses. Many citizens opposed these MDOT plans.
Governor’s Commission On Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal Transportation Experts-Canal Road Connector
One of the world renowned transportation experts, who took part in the Governor’s Commission on Recovery, allegedly said that the Canal Road-Gulfport Connector was the stupidest plan he had seen in his career. Furthermore, he said the $300 million plan was a waste of $260 million.
The Summary Report published by the Mississippi Renewal Forum said the following in regard to the Canal Road Connector:
A new or improved link to aid truck traffic into and out of the Port seems like a reasonable notion, but its design conception seems flawed.
A revised alignment with the existing Canal Road interchange would save a lot of money and greatly simply the interchange for drivers. Alternatively, the Canal Road interchange could be abandoned and a much simpler interchange built on the proposed alignment-again saving funds that could potentially be used on other projects.
In addition, MDOT is building this interchange with the belief that it needs to accommodate 60,000 vehicles per day in and out of Gulfport. These projections should be recalculated based on the revised vision for the city and the region.
In addition, the current MDOT plans propose a connection of this road with Beach Boulevard. This would be a mistake as it would continue to create and foster auto-dependence.
The transportation team recommends that this proposal be revisited fundamentally… 17 |
