www.washingtonexaminer.com After years of “discrimination” by Washington bureaucrats, rural communities are finally set to get a long-overdue share of federal money for roads, rail, and airports, a key promise of President Trump.
In a major funding shift championed by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, officials have revealed that rural areas that received 21% of $7-$8 billion in infrastructure funds in past years received up to 70% in an early campaign to improve transportation safety and capacity and will get half from now on.
“Rural America is not looking for a handout … They merely want not to be overlooked or discriminated against and to have their fair share in the distribution of federal resources,” Chao told us about her new program, Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success, or ROUTES.
In the less than two months after Chao first talked about it in St. Louis, ROUTES has been embraced by transportation officials around the country as a boost to help increase safety and move goods through small towns.
In Iowa, Transportation Director Mark Lowe said the new funding would be used for road “modernization,” improving bus systems to get workers into urban areas, and even river lock systems to move goods.
In Missouri, Gov. Mike Parson said fixing broken infrastructure is a top focus, and Chao’s plan comes just in time. “Transportation drives our economy, and improving infrastructure is a major step toward maintaining our highway system and ensuring we have the framework for access and expansion in the future. We appreciate Secretary Chao’s continued support and commitment to infrastructure in Missouri,” he said.
ROUTES is winning cheers in Congress, too.
“Almost half of all traffic fatalities in the country occur on rural roads, despite only one-fifth of the U.S. population living in these rural areas. This disproportionately high number is due, in part, to crumbling infrastructure and lack of funds to fix the issues,” said Arkansas Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman.