Analyzing the earmarks in Section 1702 of H.R. 3 SAFETEA-LU Highway Bill

Porkopolis has been looking into the details of H.R. 3 SAFETEA-LU starting with SEC. 1702. Project Authorizations. The expenditures for this section are described as follows:

Subject to section 117 of title 23, United States Code, the amount listed for each high priority project in the following table shall be available (from amounts made available by section 1101(a)(16) of this Act) for fiscal years 2005 through 2009 to carry out each such project:

It took a bit of work, but all the project amounts, target state and descriptions for this section were loaded into an Excel spreadsheet (zipped MS Office 2003) for some analysis.

Here are just a few of the highlights (Note this is just for Section 1702):

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* Number of earmarked projects 5,091 totalling $14,823,809,666.

* Top ten states by total expenditure amounts:

CA $1,156,501,544
NY $714,311,600
TX $678,670,000
AK $596,700,000
IL $595,552,002
PA $551,471,600
FL $522,488,000
OH $463,476,120
MO $361,200,000
GA $350,128,800

* Largest expenditure: $151,000,000 (nice round number) for project 2465; Planning, design, and construction of Knik Arm Bridge in Arkansas.

* Smallest expenditure: $12,800 for project 3175; SR 91 I-605 Needs Assessment Study, Whittier, CA

* Median expenditure amount: $1.6 million.

Expenditures of note for Ohio:

* Number of Section 1702 projects for Ohio: 205

* Largest Ohio Project: Project 4619; $21, 970,000 for Reconstruction of Cleveland Inner Belt and rehabilitation of the Central Viaduct Bridge, Cleveland, OH

* Projects 3247 ($6.4 million for I-70, I-71 Split reconfiguration, Columbus) and 4626 ($8 million for Reconstruction of the 70/71 split in downtown Columbus, OH) appear to be the same exact project.

* Projects 1926 ($12 million for Grading, paving, roads for the transfer of rail to truck for the intermodal facility at Rickenbacker Airport) and 4651 ($5 milion for Grading, paving, roads for the transfer of rail to truck for the intermodal facility at Rickenbacker Airport)

* Project 4666 ($1 million to Establish a Trans-Erie Ferry line from Cleveland, Ohio to Port Stanley, Ontario) has nothing to do with 'Highways'.

* Projects 2140 ($8 million for Replace the Edward N. Waldvogel Viaduct in Cincinnati), 4624 ($6 million for Replace the Edward N. Waldvogel Viaduct. Cincinnati, OH) and 4655 ($2.5 milliion for City of Cincinnati Waldvogel Viaduct reconstruction project) all appear to be the same project.

Projects that are 100% pork barrel spending ($16,686,000 total):

Project 5 ($2.75 million for Renovate and expand National Packard Museum and adjacent historic Packard facilities)

Project 490 ($2 million for Intermodal Bikeway, Independence)

Project 746 ($2 million for Planning and construction of a bicycle trail adjacent to the I-90 and SR 615 Interchange in Lake County, OH)

Project 4637 ($1.8 million for Design and construct a Towpath Trail from southern Cuyahoga County through downtown Cleveland to Lake Erie. Cleveland, OH)

Project 874 ($1.6 million to Construct Ohio River Trail from Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio to Salem Road)

Project 2855 ($1.2 million to Design and Construct Riverwalk and adjacent facilities, Warren, Trumbull Co)

Project 3059 ($1.016 million to Construct Great Miami River Multi-Use Trail, Miami County, Ohio)

Project 1431 ($ 800,000 to Acquire land and construct Portage Bike and Hike Trail, Portage Co)

Project 1450 ($ 800,000 for Planning and construction on bike paths and trails as part of Phases III-VI in Ashtabula Metroparks Western Reserve Greenway).

Project 2873 ($640,000 Bicycle Paths for the Magic Mile in Willougby, OH)

Project 1008 ($600,000 Purchase High Speed Ferries for Black River Excursion Boat Service, Lorain)

Project 3626 ($560,000 Land acquisition for construction of pedestrian and bicycle trails at Mentor Marsh in Ohio)

Project 1769 ($400,000 Construction of bicycle trail extension in Geauga Park District in Chardon, OH)

Project 457 ($280,000 Construct Bike and Walking Path from West 210 St. to Metroparks Fairview Park)

Project 986 ($240,000 Construct Williamsburg, Ohio to Batavia, Ohio Hike, and Bike Trail)