SWFTI News

Mack finds $10 million for I-75

08/11/2005

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Florida lawmakers net $91.1 million total for interstate
By LARRY WHEELER
Published by news-press.com

WASHINGTON — It is rare for a first-term congressman to get a big, expensive spending project for his hometown inserted into a major piece of federal legislation.

Such perks are usually reserved for more senior members.

It is rarer still for a rookie congressman to score a big project and then find out there was even more coin in the jar than he originally thought.

Well, that’s exactly what happened to Connie Mack IV, the Republican congressman with the famous baseball name who represents Southwest Florida.

Just as President Bush was preparing to sign the massive $286.4 billion transportation bill in Illinois Wednesday, Mack’s office sent out a press release announcing the discovery of an extra $10 million for Interstate 75.

The money had been squirreled away in a lonely corner of the legislation. It was apparently added late in the legislative game on July 29 as Senate and House negotiators put the finishing touches on the lengthy legislative document.

With lawmakers angling to get out of town for the rest of the summer, few had time to actually read the fine points of the bill before they voted on it.

That day, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Orlando, proudly announced he was successful in getting $81.1 million for the I-75 project. There was no mention of the extra $10 million, which brings the total designated for the project to $91.1 million.

So what happened?

“It was buried in a different section of the bill,” Mack’s spokesman Jeff Cohen said in an e-mail response to a reporter’s question.
Mack and Republican Mario Diaz-Balart, whose congressional district includes Naples, just learned about it “a day or so ago,” Cohen said.

In a joint press release, Mack and Balart thanked Martinez, a freshman senator, and Democrat Bill Nelson, Florida’s senior senator, for getting the extra money inserted into the highway bill.

Mack, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, worked to get $72 million for I-75 inserted into the original House version of the highway bill.

The project includes widening the interstate from four to six lanes in Collier and Lee counties. Work on the road is currently scheduled to begin in 2008 with a total construction cost estimated to be $200 million.

The added federal funds could be used to help offset costs associated with preparations for the major widening project but probably will not speed up the timetable, state transportation officials said.

Overall, the legislation promises $10.3 billion for Florida road and transit projects over the next six years. That represents a 31 percent increase from the previous transportation bill, according to Martinez’s office.

The I-75 funds were the largest single earmark for any Florida highway or transit project in the transportation bill Bush signed. Most of the other earmarks were for local road improvements or public transit needs.