[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8697]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 ON INTRODUCTION OF THE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE ON FEDERAL LANDS 
                              ACT OF 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 3, 2011

  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce a bill that will 
significantly improve traffic safety and mobility in our national parks 
and other public recreational lands through increased funding and 
expanded authorities. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, the 
Transportation Infrastructure Improvements on Federal Lands Act of 
2011.
  Our national parks contain some of the most important and valuable 
historic, cultural, and natural treasures in our country. Millions of 
visitors flock to these parks every year. Yet safe access to and 
movement around these sites are compromised by severe and chronic 
underfunding and irrational provisions in current law.
  The state of park transportation systems is deplorable. A recent 
assessment by the National Park Service (NPS) found that 90 percent of 
the park roads are in poor or fair condition. This compares with 14 
percent for major rural roads in the overall federal-aid highways 
system. One person is killed or injured on a park road every 4.5 hours. 
If the National Park System were a state, it would rank 13th highest 
for road fatalities and injuries among all the states.
  The NPS received $240 million in FY2010 through the Park Roads and 
Parkways program to build, repair, and rehabilitate roads and bridges, 
less than a third of what the NPS estimates it needs to provide safe 
and efficient access for visitors. My legislation would double the 
annual funding to accelerate the retirement of the growing road repair 
backlog now estimated at $4.9 billion.
  The poor state of park roads is not caused by insufficient funding 
alone. Under current law, Federal highway funds can be used for 
reconstruction and rehabilitation, but not for regular maintenance that 
would help extend the life of roadways and preserve taxpayers' 
investments. Consequently, maintenance of roads and bridges is deferred 
until they have deteriorated to the point where they qualify for major 
rehabilitation or reconstruction, at far greater expense. Visitors are 
put at risk when they try to drive around potholes that are too common 
on our park roads. My legislation would make regular maintenance of 
park roads eligible for federal highway funding.
  As our national parks become increasingly crowded, alternative 
transportation systems are being relied upon to a much greater extent 
to help move visitors around. Unfortunately, that program is also 
severely underfunded. A third major focus of my bill would raise the 
annual funding level for the federal public lands transit program from 
the current $24 million to $100 million, with 60 percent of it being 
targeted for qualified projects in national parks.
  Visitors from throughout our country and around the world are 
discovering the natural, cultural, and historic wonders that are 
embodied in our national parks. Their experience should not be 
diminished, and their safety certainly should not be placed at risk, 
while they visit our national parks. I urge you to join me in 
sponsoring this legislation to improve visitor safety and enjoyment of 
our parks through improved maintenance and management of its 
transportation systems.

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