The Department of Transportation will furlough nearly 2,000 employees without pay Monday, temporarily shutting down highway reimbursements to states worth hundreds of millions of dollars, national anti-drunk driving efforts, and multi-million dollar construction projects across the country.
The action comes as a result of Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning’s decision to block key legislation that would have extended several critical priorities for middle class families. That legislation covered tax credits for COBRA health coverage, unemployment insurance for 400,000 people, as well as the short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The Fund supports all surface transportation programs for the nation – highways, bridges, transit and safety inspections, as well as efforts to encourage seat belt use and to fight distracted and impaired driving.
“As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed.”
Because of the shutdown, federal inspectors will be removed from critical construction projects, forcing work to come to a halt on federal lands. Projects span the country, including the $36 million replacement of the Humpback Bridge on the George Washington Parkway in Virginia, $15 million in bridge construction and stream rehabilitation in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, and the $8 million resurfacing of the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi. A full list of the FHWA construction projects affected by the furlough is below.
At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the furloughs will disrupt safety programs that operate in partnership with the states and advocacy groups, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). The programs are designed to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities totaling 37,000 a year in areas including distracted driving, child passenger safety and motorcycle safety. Activities affected include national media and enforcement campaigns such as “Click It or Ticket,” and “Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest.”
Assistance to consumers whose goods are held hostage by rogue moving companies will be unavailable during this period. And work addressing texting while driving for commercial truck and bus drivers, electronic on-board recorders and hours of service will also be suspended.
Employees at the Department of Transportation should report for work Monday morning as they normally would unless given specific alternate instructions. Furloughs will affect employees funded by the Highway Trust Fund at the following agencies: the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration.
Employees may find more information about the furloughs and when they will be able to return to work at www.dot.gov, as well as Secretary LaHood’s blog, Fast Lane, at www.fastlane.dot.gov. Information will also be available at Secretary LaHood’s twitter account, www.twitter.com/RayLaHood, and at his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/sec.lahood.
Federal Lands Construction Affected By Furlough
State, project and cost
Alaska
Tongass National Forest road clean up
$1,100,000
Alaska
Coffman Cove Dock construction
$885,000
Arizona
Coronado National Monument main park entrance
$1,500,000
Arkansas
East Fly Gap and Gunner Pool Roads landslides restoration
$923,000
California
Sequoia National Park main entrance
$15,000,000
California
South Fork Smith River
$13,800,000
California
Golden Gate National Recreation Area road construction
$8,700,000
District of Columbia
9th Street Bridge replacement
$50,000,000
Georgia
Chicakamauga & Chattanogga National Military Park constrution
$634,000
Idaho
Salmon River Road Nez Perce National Forest consctruction
$20,133,000
Idaho
Little Salmon River Bridge Nez Perce National Forest intersection
$3,800,000
Idaho
Fernan Lakes Idaho Panhandle National Forest
$14,600,000
Illinois
McRraven Road reconstruction
$1,100,000
Maryland
Great Falls Park entrance road construction
$3,100,000
Maryland
Piscataway National Park erosion and slope damage repair
$89,000
Mississippi
Natchez Trace Parkway resurfacing
$8,100,000
Mississippi
Natchez Trace Parkway trail construction (Ridgeland County)
5,600,000
Mississippi
Vicksburg National Military Park road rehabilitation and resurfacing
$5,000,000
Mississippi
Natchez Trace Parkway trail construction (Madison County)
$4,700,000
New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns National Monument roadway rehabilitation
$9,000,000
North Carolina
Newfound Gap road rehabilitation
$9,900,000
North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway reconstruction and resurfacing
$6,000,000
North Carolina
Goshen Creek Bridge replacement
$3,000,000
Ohio
Fitzwater Road bridges replacement
$4,400,000
Oregon
Beaver Creek Road Ochoco National Forest
$6,200,000
South Carolina
Ft. Sumter Historic Site entrance road and parking area rehabilitation
$262,000
Tennessee
Cades Cove Loop Road rehabilitation
$6,700,000
Tennessee
Shilo National Park tour roads and parking area rehabilitation
$3,000,000
Tennessee
Catossa Wildlife Management Area bridge replacement
$1,000,000
Utah
Bear River Access Road
$13,800,000
Virginia/Washington, D.C.
George Washington Parkway Humpback Bridge replacement
$36,000,000
Virginia
Blue Ridge Parkway reconstruction and resurfacing
$12,000,000
Virginia
Petersburg Park tour road relocation
$1,500,000
Puerto Rico
Vieques National Wildlife Refuge road and bridge reconstruction
$6,000,000
Puerto Rico
El Yonque National Forest slide repair
$3,000,000
U.S. Virgin Islands
Christiansted Bypass construction
$14,000,000
U.S. Virgin Islands
Centerline Road reconstruction
$9,000,000
U.S. Virgin Islands
St. John roundabout construction
$7,200,000
U.S. Virgin Islands
Long Bay Road reconstruction
$5,500,000
U.S. Virgin Islands
University of Virgin Island sidewalk construction
$988,000
U.S. Virgin Islands
North Shore Road reconstruction
$448,000
