Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Highway Commissioner Speaks To Gurdon Rotarians

For years, Arkansas' highway system has been underfunded.

This has resulted in the interstate system being worn out before its time, according to John Lipton, commissioner of the Arkansas Highway Department.

Lipton told Gurdon's Rotary Club, Thursday, Dec. 2, the nation's trucking industry rates Arkansas' interstates among the worst in America.

In fact, he said, Arkansas ranks 38th or 39th in the nation in financing available for its highways.

The state, Lipton said, has tried to maintain its highways by raising the tax on gasoline and diesel fuels, but inflation has tended to eat up these increases, leaving the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) looking for ways to fund maintenance projects.

He said Arkansas is what is termed a "donor" state where federal money is concerned. For each dollar the state sends to the federal government, it only gets 91 or 92 cents in return.

This doesn't help the highway situation any either, he said.

But, Lipton added, the Arkansas General Assembly, in its last session, with the help of Gov. Mike Huckabee, presented a way to alleviate the problem somewhat.

This was the proposed bond issue which passed overwhelmingly in June.

However, Lipton pointed out, this Garvey bond money is not a grant, but, in fact, is the state borrowing against its future interstate highway federal money.

The money from the bond passed by Arkansas voters last summer, he said, can only be used to maintain the existing interstate highways.

But, he added, the state may have to get a waiver so an extra lane can be added to I-30 near Benton as it is a heavily traveled and oft congested area.

Before the issue went to the people, though, a series of regional hearings were held to assess highway needs.

Those involved came up with $7 billion in highway needs, while the projected funds coming in were $4 billion in federal and state money.

"There were actual needs," Lipton said, "not wants. It showed us to be $3 billion short and that we weren't keeping up."

Because of this, the bond issue came about.

Lipton pointed out Arkansas was one of, if not the, first state to complete its interstate highway system.

This goes back to the presidential administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who decided it would be a good idea for the U.S. after a trip to Europe.

The original design for the interstates in Arkansas, Lipton said, was a 54,000 pound load capacity.

But, the load limit has been raised repeatedly to its current rate of 80,000 pounds, with the trucking industry screaming to be allowed to add more weight.

One of the biggest transportation mistakes the nation made, he said, was allowing the railroad system to get in its current state of disrepair by relying so heavily on the interstate highways.

According to Lipton, the trucking industry is wanting to add triple trailers, so more cargo can be hauled at one time. This, though, means added weight on an already over-stressed interstate system.

In talking about the trucking industry, Lipton said it is in need of 88,000 drivers, because many are retiring and because of demand.

This means most of the new drivers hired will be inexperienced, and this will add even more stress to the highways.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see the load limit raised," he said, "and if we could get truckers to use more axles it would probably be better than it is now."

However, with the push on for a 100,000 pound limit, Lipton said it would take the autobahn system as Germany and other European nations have, to handle the stress limit.

A group of high-powered businessmen in Northwest Arkansas voiced their concerns over new construction of the so-called "high priority corridors," he said.

They were informed the AHTD doesn't have the funding for such corridors at this time, and were asked if they would favor raising the money through the creation of toll roads.

Lipton said they didn't like the toll road idea much.

But, he continued, returning to the topic of proposed construction, the commission has already hired a financial adviser and bond attorney. It needs, Lipton said, a bond underwriter.

Then bids can begin being let at the end of January 2000.

The bids will be let in three series, a year apart with the first coming next year, followed by a different set in 2001 and a third in 2002.

"It's a good time to be in the barrel business," he joked.

"This construction won't take away from the non-interstate programs," Lipton added. "This Garvey money can only be used for interstate maintenance."

To help fund the non-interstate work, the issue voters passed also contained a 2 cent increase on diesel tax and one cent tax increases on gasoline for three consecutive years.

"This will let us do a lot of overlay and seal work, but it won't let us fix everything."

The people, he said, are interested in the farm-to-market roads they tend to live on as this is a rural state. "They don't feel safe on 10-foot wide roads with no shoulder, and I don't blame them."

But, with the construction planned, Arkansas' interstate system should be upgraded to handle traffic for the next 10-12 years, depending on what happens with the load limit situation for the trucking industry.