Opinion: The Conservative Case for the REPAIR Infrastructure Act - Streetsblog USA

"For decades, conservatives have championed straightforward principles for infrastructure policy: correct past mistakes, spend taxpayer dollars wisely, and stop creating liabilities we cannot afford to maintain. The REPAIR Infrastructure Act represents a rare legislative opportunity where these principles align with practical policy to address one of America's most expensive self-inflicted wounds - communities divided and economically weakened by highways that were built without regard for the neighborhoods they destroyed."

"REPAIR would reauthorize and expand the Reconnecting Communities program, authorizing $3 billion annually from the Highway Trust Fund between fiscal years 2027 and 2031. The bill authorizes $3 billion per year (FY 2027-2031), including $100 mllion for planning grants and $2.9 billion for capital construction to help communities remove, retrofit, or mitigate divisive transportation infrastructure that creates barriers to economic opportunity."

"The legislation includes a provision conservatives should recognize as fiscal discipline codified into law. REPAIR funds cannot be used to increase the number of travel lanes on existing highways. This restriction acknowledges what many Republican mayors and county commissioners understand from direct experience: highway widening creates expensive long-term maintenance obligations while typically failing to deliver promised congestion relief due to induced demand."

REPAIR would reauthorize and expand the Reconnecting Communities program, providing $3 billion per year from the Highway Trust Fund for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The authorization includes $100 million for planning grants and $2.9 billion for capital construction to remove, retrofit, or mitigate transportation infrastructure that divides and hinders economic opportunity. The program represents roughly five percent of current annual surface transportation expenditures and is intended as a targeted strategic intervention rather than expansive new spending. The legislation bars use of funds to increase existing highway travel lanes to avoid long-term maintenance costs and induced demand. The measure aims to correct past planning mistakes that impose ongoing economic costs on communities.

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