Legislation that would provide $284 billion in federal highway, transit and road safety projects through 2009 was overwhelmingly approved by the House of Representatives by a vote of 417 to 9. The legislation, H.R. 3 - “The Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users,” is a critical bill which determines the federal funding amounts for America’s transportation infrastructure including highways, transit and aviation. H.R. 3 authorizes $225.5 billion for the Federal Highway Administration, $52.3 billion for the Federal Transit Administration, $3.2 billion for the National Traffic and Highway Safety Administration and $2.9 billion for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. “For North Texas, this is a big win,” stated Congressman Michael C. Burgess. “As a former Member of the House Transportation Committee, I spent considerable time advocating for much-needed transportation dollars back in my district.” Rep. Michael Burgess played an integral role in the development of the bill and offered an amendment on the floor. The amendment allows states to receive Transportation Development Credits (known as toll credits) in a timely manner so they have available resources to reinvest in their transportation systems without constantly requesting additional federal monies to meet their needs. Toll credits recognize the non-federal state and local investment in toll facilities to help address traffic congestion in urbanized areas. Toll credits build on that state and local investment to provide financing options for needed highway, transit, and highway safety projects. The amendment passed by a voice vote and will be included in the House bill. “If Houston or Dallas or Austin wants to build new lanes with local tolls, the federal government shouldn’t impede their efforts,” stated Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. “This is a fundamental state issue and Michael Burgess is addressing the problem so we can take care of our own roads quickly and efficiently.” In addition to this amendment, Congressman Burgess entered into a colloquy with Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the Chairman of the Transportation Committee, to discuss including language from his “design-build” concept. This guarantees that the “design-build” language supported by Congressman Burgess will be addressed during conference. “Design-Build” is a term to describe an innovative project delivery method that combines the design and construction of a toll road project into one contract rather than the traditional “Design-Bid-Build” method of having individual contracts for separate, sequential phases of a project. Congressman Burgess seeks to modify existing law give states additional flexibility to design and build roads concurrently, not sequentially. “By allowing environmental studies to move ahead of a project, we will be able to have roads where they are needed, when they are needed,” stated Congressman Michael Burgess. “This philosophy of road building would bring relief to dangerous and congested roads that can’t wait another 20 years to get fixed.” Although the U.S. Senate has passed their version of the transportation bill, a conference committee, composed of Senate of House Members, will meet to negotiate the terms of a final conference bill to be voted on by both houses before being sent to the President for his signature. 26th Congressional District of Texas Project Descriptions AS PASSED by the House of Representatives $ 7,000,000 Widen from 4 to 6 lanes Interstate 35 East from Lake Lewisville to Loop 288 $1,000,000 Union Pacific Railroad Bridge replacement over Business US 287, Ft. Worth $1,000,000 Precinct Line Road Bridge $2,000,000 Tower 55 CMAQ Congestion and Preliminary Engineering Study $2,000,000 Add shoulders to FM 156 from Ponder to Krum $2,000,000 Interstate Highway 820 Widening Project $1,000,000 Relocation FM 156; Alliance Airport Watch Video