It is time for Alabama to establish a transportation commission if for no other reason than the obvious fact that the current system of maintaining the state’s roads and bridges isn’t working. The state Senate believes otherwise.
A Senate committee voted Tuesday to block House Bill 123 introduced by Republican Cam Ward, which would remove the Department of Transportation from the controlling umbrella of the governor and put it under control of a governor-appointed commission, which would then appoint its own transportation director.
As it stands, Alabama governors appoint transportation directors to head the DOT. Since 2003, that man, appointed by Gov. Bob Riley, has been Joe McInnes. Unless the bill somehow gets passed, a new transportation director could be appointed by whoever wins the 2010 gubernatorial election.
Stability should count for something. Evidently, some Senate members don’t believe that. The vote blocking the bill in the Senate committee was split pretty much along party lines, with a majority of Democrats voting against the bill and a majority of Republicans in support of the bill. Imagine that — partisanship above policies.
Democratic opponents said the bill, which was soundly approved 95 to 1 in the House of Representatives, wouldn’t end politics in road projects. To that degree, they are correct. There is no guarantee that it would solve political problems, but it is apparent that the current system is far too politicized to be effective. It is past time to begin trying something new. Creating a commission is a step in the right direction. Of course, that would mean lawmakers would have a tougher time passing pork over priorities.
Alabama needs long-range highway plans for long-range highway projects. We are a growing state, and one that must continuously improve our highway system to accommodate a growing population. But if the DOT can’t promise long-term projects because its top dog changes every four years or so and is beholden to elected officials, then something must be done to give this department the stability it needs.
We should look to our neighbor to the east as an example. Georgia has long had a transportation commission. No one could successfully argue that political pressures don’t beset the GDOT or that pork projects have been abandoned for the common good. However, it would be hard to argue that the system there isn’t working much better than the hodgepodge road works system in Alabama.
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