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Rob Shaw, Tampa Tribune
August 09, 2011
TAMPA -- When the economy is in the tank, road builders are looking for work, too.
That means the bidding environment for projects to widen or build new highways is especially competitive – not to mention cheaper.
And that's where Florida – the state that turned its back on high-speed rail – has jumped on accelerating some $1.2 billion in road projects.
The Veterans Expressway in Hillsborough County. Interstate 275 through Tampa. State Road 50 in Hernando County. A new bridge near St. Pete Beach.
They all have been moved up as part of the state Department of Transportation's "Vision for the 21st Century."
In a state hit hard by the soured economy and high jobless numbers, the plan comes as good news.
"Most every contractor in the state has laid off 40 percent of their work force and they are all looking for work," said Bob Burleson, president of the Florida Transportation Builders Association.
"When work is scarce, competition is fierce for that work," he added. "The more competition, the lower the price."
Ananth Prasad, secretary of the DOT, said that bid prices have been coming in as much as 15 percent to 25 percent below estimates. That allows the state to do more to improve roads and help out the job market at the same time.
"We are all trying to do our part in creating jobs," Prasad said. "We looked at our list of projects and asked what can we do to create jobs and bring improvements sooner."
Some projects were moved up just a few months; others were moved ahead by as much as three years.
The spending of a billion dollars to create bigger and better roads should create about 28,000 jobs, Prasad said. Burleson estimates the number at 33,000 to 35,000 new jobs.
"That's big," Burleson said.
What's also big is the deficiency that the state's gas tax leaves in the funding mechanism for road improvements. With high gas prices, people are driving less and also are driving more fuel-efficient vehicles.
That's why state officials are seeking innovative ways to pay for future improvements.
"Florida will be implementing a policy that all new capacity on interstates and expressways and widening and replacement of all major river crossings should be tolled where feasible," the DOT said in a news release announcing the accelerated projects.
That means as new lanes – express lanes, managed lanes, dedicated lanes -- are added to Interstates 75 or 4, for example, drivers who want to use them will have to pay for them.
"The thought process is to put tolls on the new capacity and not what is out there already," Prasad said. "We are not advocating a policy to toll existing lanes."
That's good news to state Sen. Mike Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican who for years chaired the Transportation Economic Development Appropriations Committee and is now a member.
He said he doesn't want to see any roads that have already been paid for by the public with gas tax funds to be put in the same arena for toll purposes. That would be akin to double dipping, he said.
Fasano said the concept of paying for new lanes on existing highways with tolls has worked well in Southeast Florida. He would like to see it tried in the Tampa Bay area.
"You have to look for alternative ways," the lawmaker said.
State officials and those in the construction industry hope that the billion-dollar infusion will help to kick-start the state's sagging, battered economy.
"If you are not fortunate to have gotten one of these mega-jobs, you're pretty hungry," Burleson said. "I've never seen the economy tanking like this. I've been around 40 years and I have never seen it like this."
Original article in Tampa Tribune.
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