Transportation Secretary LaHood Happy with Asks for Road Improvement in Indian Country

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Currents. Discussion »

GRAND RAPIDS - According to the "Indian Country: Budget Request" released last week by the National Congress of American Indians to total 2013 budget requests by the US Department of Transportation is $544,200,000.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (r)

“We have worked to get more money into the budget in Indian Country,”

said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

“We are making progress.”

Currently, two thirds of roads on Indian reservations are unpaved. Twenty seven percent of bridges have been deemed structurally deficient. Floods, snow and other natural disasters have made roads and bridges worse on several reservations in Indian Country.

It would take 28 years of continuous development and repairs to bring roads in Indian Country up to where they need to be. The lack of funding contributes to the transportation disparity in Indian Country according to testimony made before the US Senate on Indian Affairs last September.

“Indian Country has an unmet immediate need of well over $258 million in maintenance funding for roads and bridges.”

testified Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians.

Oglala Reservation Unsafe Road

"States governments spend between $4,000 and $5,000 per road mile on state road and highway maintenance. In contrast, road maintenance spending in Indian Country is less than $500 per road mile,"

Tragically, the poor roads in Indian Country result in traffic deaths that occur at rates of two to three times the national average. During the past five years, the number of fatal crashes has declined by 2.2 percent nationally. By contrast, in Indian Country, the number of fatal crashes has increased 52.5 percent during the same time period.

Secretary LaHood made a stop in Grand Rapids on Saturday to dedicate the new bus terminal for The Rapid, the mass transit authority for the region.

"Stimulus funds set forth by President Obama and Congress have helped make this building a reality,"

stated LaHood.

"The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act put many construction workers to work."

posted January 31, 2012 6:57 am est