More money for highways must be paired with reform

THERE ARE A few indisputable truths about our roads:

• South Carolina operates the fourth-largest highway system in the nation — which means we’re responsible for way too many roads that should be maintained by cities and counties.

• We charge the fourth-lowest gas tax in the nation, and because we don’t use other taxes to fund road construction, we spend less on roads than any other state.

• The highway funding mechanism itself is flawed — since we charge a flat tax on each gallon of gas, revenue does not increase with inflation — so every year we fall even farther behind on maintaining those roads. How much? For the money it took to build 10 miles of road in 1999, we can now build only 6.1 miles.

• Our heavy reliance on federal road funds exacerbates the problem, by forcing us to use precious state road funds to qualify for federal construction money rather than on more urgently needed road repairs.

The result: We resurface highways once every 75 years; we can’t fix deadly intersections, sharp curves and roads that are barely wide enough for two SUVs to safely pass each other; one of every five state bridges is deficient. Year in and year out, more people die on our highways than practically anywhere in the country.

So state Transportation Director Betty Mabry was absolutely right last month when she declared a “transportation funding crisis.”

She was absolutely right when she said we need to step up our preventive maintenance, resurface our roads more quickly, fix those bridges and devolve responsibility for many roads to the cities and counties.

She was absolutely right when she said the state has to dramatically increase road funding — she would nearly double it over the next decade, through higher gas taxes and new vehicle-related taxes.

There’s only one problem: We don’t have a Transportation Department that is capable of spending the money it already has wisely.

That’s not entirely the fault of the department. It is actually designed to promote parochialism and prevent the public from holding anyone accountable: Six of the agency’s seven board members are appointed by the legislators in their congressional districts — and board members can’t be removed before their terms end. So instead of targeting its inadequate resources at our state’s most crucial needs, it spends money on horse-traded regional projects while more urgent projects are overlooked. That won’t change until the board is replaced by a director who answers to the governor.

As if that weren’t enough, we’re still waiting for credible answers about allegations of cronyism, favoritism and misconduct that have been raised concerning the administration and some board members.

So does this mean we do nothing? Of course not. What it means is that we recognize that the two problems are intertwined, and address them as one.

It means the Transportation Department and its commissioners and the well-connected business leaders who want more funding need to get behind reform. And it means Gov. Mark Sanford needs to move beyond simply using the lack of accountability as an excuse to say “no” and pledge to support a plan that ties increased funding (yes, even if it means higher taxes) to an overhaul of the agency. Then the Legislature needs to act, to address the twin crises of inadequate funding and unaccountable decisionmaking.