Georgians have to work together for big transportation projects or they’ll keep falling behind, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told a group of Macon-area and Georgia leaders Friday.
“Georgia needs to get its act together, and I think you’re starting to do that,” LaHood told about 200 people at the Macon City Auditorium during the Georgia Intermodal Leadership Summit.
LaHood said leadership at all levels needs to work together for the kinds of transportation projects that can change America over a generation.
“If Georgia wants a rail line and wants to be connected to high-speed intercity rail, you can make it happen,” he said. “You need to have leadership from all of you, but you need it from the governor’s office, too.”
LaHood said California made commitments to get $2.25 billion for high-speed rail, while a group of states in the Midwest worked together for another big project.
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office said he wasn’t responsible for any transportation shortcomings.
“It is clear the Obama administration has its operatives traveling the country in a last-ditch effort to try and find someone to blame for their failed policies,” Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said. “While the blame game may be alive and well inside the Washington, D.C., Beltway, Georgia voters are smart enough to recognize a con job when they see it.”
LaHood’s talk — and much of the rest of the conference — focused on passenger and freight rail, though roads, interstates and Savannah’s harbor were also discussed.
DuBose Porter, a longtime Democratic House leader who ran unsuccessfully for governor this year, warned that getting total agreement on transportation projects would be nearly impossible. A rail line from Macon through Griffin to Atlanta would pass through three regions, each of which will separately consider a regional sales tax that could subsidize the rail line.
Porter said that wasn’t a reliable way to get money and called instead for the state’s “fourth penny” of its gas tax to be dedicated to transportation, creating a stable funding source to match against federal funds.
The state’s transportation planner, Todd Long, said the regional sales tax, known as House Bill 277, was the only option.
“It’s Plan A, HB 277. And there is no Plan B,” he said. “We’ve got to find a way to make this work. The feds are not going to save us with money, all right? It’s not going to happen.”
State Sen. Robert Brown, the Senate minority leader and a Democrat from Macon, said the very fact that Friday’s meeting was held was a sign. He worked with Sen. Jeff Mullis, a Republican who leads the Senate Transportation Committee, to put the event together.
Brown predicted that politicians would provide leadership on House Bill 277 if they can realize that “perfect” is the enemy of “good.”
State Rep. David Lucas, a Democrat from Macon, said cooperation is inevitable.
“I think there’s no choice,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, a Democrat from Macon, said Macon is poised for transportation improvements. One plan calls for benefits to go 100 miles to either side of a high-speed line between Birmingham, Ala., Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C. Marshall said money is already planned to rebuild the Interstate 16/Interstate 75 interchange.
“Money’s supposedly already in the pipeline,” Marshall said. “The state needs to make it more of a priority.”
LaHood, a former Republican congressman, said he expects Congress to tackle a six-year, $500 billion transportation plan next year that could help accommodate Georgia’s needs.
To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-4251.
