Title
Motion of the Council of Allegheny County requesting that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania act to distribute any federal funding received through the recently enacted economic stimulus package, which allocates revenue for infrastructure improvement, in a fashion that prioritizes road and bridge infrastructure within Allegheny County above the North Shore Connector project.
Body
WHEREAS, principles of sound fiscal management mitigate against undertaking large public works projects with uncertain budgets; and
WHEREAS, cost overruns for tunnel projects are historically unpredictable and potentially very large, such as in Boston's "Big Dig" project, for which the original budget was $2.5 billion when the project began in 1998, yet for which the final budget was $14.6 billion when it was finally completed in 2003; and
WHEREAS, the North Shore Connector, consisting of a tunnel running roughly one half of one mile under the Allegheny River, has already suffered from significant cost overruns; and
WHEREAS, while the United States Department of Transportation at one time estimated the total budget for this project to be $381 million, this figure has grown to $435 million and, in some published reports, as high as $553 million; and
WHEREAS, this radical increase in cost has taken place even though the scope of the project has been greatly reduced from the original concept through the elimination of the proposed Convention Center Line, which would have connected Steel Plaza Station and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center; and
WHEREAS, original estimates were that the County of Allegheny would contribute 3.3% percent of the total initial project estimated budget of $390 million, or roughly $12.9 million, with the federal government providing 80% of the project funding and another 16.6% coming from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, at the same 3.3 percent contribution rate, the County's contribution has now grown to over $14.3 million in even the most conservative estimates, and could be as much as $18.25 million; and
WHEREAS, this increase in cost places an undue burden on the County's already overburdened taxpayers, insofar as their federal, state and local tax dollars will be funneled to a project that has already exceeded its original budget by at least 13%, and perhaps by as much as 32%; and
WHEREAS, even as the County's projected share of the funding for the North Shore Connector continues to grow, the existing fiscal situation within Allegheny County precludes the County from expending sufficient funding to repair and/or replace existing infrastructure and capital- intense projects such as county road systems and bridges that are badly in need of repair, with further deleterious effects on the maintenance of County facilities such as the County Parks, as well as on the County's ability to provide other services to its residents; and
WHEREAS, the Chief Executive has, according to published reports, expressed a desire to limit the County's funding contribution to the North Shore Connector project; and
WHEREAS, there are existing bridges and other traffic systems that could be readily converted to provide comparable access to the North Shore for both public and private transportation at a cost considerably less than a tunnel; and
WHEREAS, the possibility exists that far more transportation infrastructure can be accomplished with the funds represented by the County's ever-increasing burden for the North Shore Connector; and
WHEREAS, it is the judgment of County Council that governmental resources should be applied to other transportation projects throughout the county in need of repair and/or replacement; and
WHEREAS, County Council has, for this and other reasons, previously expressed its opposition to the North Shore Connector tunnel in unequivocal terms;
WHEREAS, on February 17, 2009, President Obama signed a $787 billion economic stimulus package that includes hundreds of billions of dollars in spending on numerous domestic programs, expanded unemployment benefits for Americans, and tax cuts; and
WHEREAS, the stimulus package allocates $27.5 billion for highway construction, with another $8.4 billion allocated for public transit and 1.5 billion allocated for local transportation investments; and
WHEREAS, as signed, the stimulus bill appears to vest discretion over which projects to fund with the states; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of Council to unequivocally state its preference that priority be given to road and bridge-related expenditures of stimulus revenue within Allegheny County, rather than expenditure on the fiscally irresponsible North Shore Connector Project;
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS MOVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, that
Council hereby requests that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania act to distribute any federal funding received through the recently enacted economic stimulus package, which allocates revenue for infrastructure improvement, in a fashion that prioritizes road and bridge infrastructure within Allegheny County above the North Shore Connector project.