SOCIAL COMMENTARY: Bumpy road to transportation funding

Readers had plenty to say about Monday’s story detailing ways that legislators are seeking to find revenue for transportation projects, including increasing the gasoline tax. Here’s a selection of opinions and reactions readers have shared at delawarestatenews.net and facebook.com/delawarestatenews:

•They raise the tolls on Route 1 and push the local traffic back on to Route 13 and they think this is a good idea for revenue? — Bill Gares

•How about hiring competent companies and make them be responsible for the roads for a number of years after they are done. — Jennifer Lloyd Dill

•It wouldn’t cost so much if the quality of work lasted more then one year. Take a look at Hazelville Road and Westville Road. They didn’t last five months — Matt Andrews

•Pass construction reform. Current union rules require massive overstaffing for road projects. Next time you see a small road project, count the number of people standing around or seated in nearby cars and trucks.

Then imagine you owned a business that had hired this construction firm. Look at all the sitting around, people taking frequent and long breaks and you’d realize you got rooked on the contract. Before raising taxes to transfer more money to union members, how about labor law reform.

Then offer short intensive basic road construction job training for the long-term unemployed. Instead of paying people $30 or more per hour, pay $20 or more per hour and help long-term unemployed get new jobs. — Michael Melloy

•You get what you pay for. If we want good roads, stop seeking the lowest bidder and make them guarantee it for at least 10 years, Europe does. — Bob Connelly

•They can cut other things. Where does all the toll money go anyway? — Veronica Rogers

•They need more money in order to fund their ever-growing incompetence. I-95 was resurfaced masterfully with a bonus incentive for every day that the project was completed ahead of the prescribed time frame. It’s not rocket science. I believe there were penalties in place if the contractor went over the deadline. — Gerry Petit de Mange

•Has anyone looked at ways to reduce expenditures? Most likely not. But, that said, now that the state is planning to pick the consumer’s pocket one more time; what about neighborhood streets? My street is just about out of blacktop and is so thin it is almost down to the roadbed in some places. The last time my street was resurfaced was 25 years ago; but the consumer road taxes keep going up. — Will Garfinkel

•How about corporations pay their share of taxes? Lower the school tax by reducing administrators’ huge salaries. Ask the big-wheeling road repair companies to stop raking us over the coals — get good people in the highway department that are for reducing taxes, not just there to make a buck. — Tammy Peel

•They should also have to answer for where the money is going — where they are wasting it. Like why does someone need to drive their state car to Walmart on Saturday? And why is there a guy in a state truck out on a Sunday to make sure the little signs are the proper distance from the road? Throwing more money at it is not a solution. Fix the leaks first. You wouldn’t just pour water in a leaky bucket. — Lani Cotton

•How about a luxury tax? And impose it on out-of-state residents to help with the expansion of Route 1 all the way to the beach. — Michael Church-Kimmey

•We need to stop using the Highway Transportation Fund for needs other than (transportation). — Maria Liberto Bessette

•Gotta have the lowest bidder. Good for the economy, don’t you know. Not to worry, they will use union pay scales and quality and get an extra 5 or 6 million out of cost overruns and weather delays. The only solution is absolute transparency and total public accountability. — Dennis Mehrenberg

•Why is raising taxes and further squeezing the middle class always their first instinct? Why don’t those boneheads ever think of ways to raise the tax base? Why don’t they sit with business owners, ask them for their biggest obstacles that prevent them from growing, and remove them. I guarantee you, they’re government policies, fees, requirements. — Donna Vadala Marshall