Idaho Gov. Brad Little recently signed Senate Bill 1359 in law, providing $252 million for transportation.
The bill provides $6 million for air, $8 million for rail, $10 million for safe pedestrian crossings, $10 million to construct a road at the Port of Lewiston, $18 million to pay off debt for Garvee projects, and $200 million for local bridges.
“We are taking advantage of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fully fund known transportation needs – to maintain our roads and bridges permanently – with no new taxes,” Little said. “Last year, together, we passed the largest transportation funding package in state history, and we did it without raising taxes. But we did not stop there. We cannot continue our record economic trajectory if our logging trucks can’t get across old bridges or we can’t get our farm products to market. This bill invests another $200 million in one-time funding to clear out one-third of the backlog of deficient bridges, and we are closing in on another $200 million in ongoing funding to fully address our known maintenance needs locally and statewide.”
Little also thanked his legislative partners and the Idaho Transportation Department.
Little is expected to sign another transportation funding bill soon, including $200 million for road maintenance.