The Colorado Department of Transportation identified $9 billion in unfunded project priorities, including 130 highway, transit, and operations projects, at a Dec. 1 meeting with the state’s Joint Budget Committee. Colorado lawmakers debated methods to increase transportation funding throughout the 2016 legislative session without reaching a consensus. Read More>>

A legislatively-appointed panel concluded Dec. 7 that Arizona will need an additional $20 billion in new revenue to build, widen and maintain freeways in order to accommodate the state’s growing needs. Economist Alan Maguire said another $40 billion is necessary for other road projects. The panel will make funding recommendations to the Senate Transportation Committee later this month. Read More>>

A scheduled 1-cent reduction in West Virginia’s gas tax will result in a $12.5 million loss to the state’s road budget. The decrease, which will take effect Jan. 1, is due to the variable-rate component of the state’s gas tax that adjusts based on the wholesale price of gasoline. (Learn more about West Virginia’s variable-rate gas tax calculation in ARTBA-TIAC’s “Variable-Rate State Gas Taxes: A Resource Guide of Current Laws” report.) A 2015 study by the Contractors Association of West Virginia found that the state already needs an additional $500 million in new revenue for road projects, and a 2013 Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways found a much larger need of $1 billion annually. Read More>>

Without new revenue, the percent of state highways in poor condition would double to 42 percent in 2027 from 21 percent in 2018, Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb told state legislators Dec. 6. Read More>>

Despite successful ballot measures in 2014 and 2015 to redirect funding for transportation purposes, Texas House Transportation Committee Chairman Joe Pickett (D- El Paso) said Dec. 7 that the state needs new revenue for projects to ease chronic congestion in metropolitan areas. Read More>>

A state budget shortfall is forcing the Montana Department of Transportation to delay requests for bids on about $144.5 million in road construction projects until May 2017. The projects were slated to be paid for with $130 million in federal funds and $14.5 million from the state. Now, anticipated federal transportation funding increases are being jeopardized by budget wrangling in Washington, D.C. The Dec. 8 announcement came a week after a proposed $7.7 million cut to the Montana Highway Patrol, which receives revenue from the state gas tax. Montana joins six other states that have delayed or canceled transportation projects this year due to lack of funding. Read More>>