Transportation Dept. gets rural views on roads

Federal transportation officials came to rural America last week for the latest stop on their national listening tour to gather input in advance of the reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program. The rural perspective on issues like road safety was the focus of the meeting in Bismark, N.D., and was headlined by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Leslie Wollack of the National League of Cities reports. LaHood "warned that with limited resources, all states will need to set priorities," Wollack writes.

"The other stops on this reauthorization tour have been metropolitan cities, so it was particularly important to talk about the issues in rural America," Connie Sprynczynatyk, executive director of the North Dakota League of Cities, said. "The need to maintain connectivity and the need for the longer planning horizon that we get with a multi-year highway bill were two recurrent themes throughout the afternoon." The surface transportation program lapsed in September "remains in limbo due to a lack of national consensus on a new direction for transportation programs and a shortage of transportation revenues," Wollack writes. LaHood said after the meeting, "Rural America will not be left out." (Read more)