In my May 12 article, I cited TEA-21 as T-21. I would like to correct that error and offer some additional information about federal funding of transportation projects to my Op Ed piece on the Vitran crisis.
TEA-21 is an acronym for the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, enacted by Congress in 1998. TEA-21 expanded the eligible Transportation Enhancement Program activities that were originally included in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991.
TEA-21 funds come from the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) of the U. S. Department of Transportation. They can be used for any road purpose, seaport or airport project, transit improvement, etc.
Some of the projects eligible under TEA-21 are: transit planning, facilities, vehicles, major maintenance, marketing, provisions for facilities and safety education for pedestrians and bicycles, acquisition of scenic easements and scenic or historic sites, landscaping and other beautification, historic preservation, archeological planning and research, control and removal of outdoor advertising and establishment of transportation museums.
In addition, the territory has also received additional federal transportation funding for special, so-called demonstration (high priority) projects. To obtain these funds, each state and territory must develop a Transportation Improvement Plan.
The cost of the territory’s demonstration project, East-West Corridor (Windward Passage Hotel to Raphune Hill) is estimated at $71 million. Only $24.4 million has been authorized for this project, developed during the Schneider administration. Where will the remaining million come from?
Where else but from the annual $6 million in TEA-21 funds allotted to the St. Thomas-St. John district each year.
It is important to note that public participation is an element of TEA-21. This requirement has been ignored by the V. I. Department of Public Works, the State Historic Preservation Office (of DPNR), the Federal Highways Administration and the Advisory Council of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
In the light of the delay of an audit of Vitran management by the V. I.
Inspector General's office, hearings to review the policy of Public Works' transportation policies by the Legislature's Government
Operations Committee is all the more urgent.
How long will Virgin Islanders tolerate being left out of the process of transportation planning?
