Washington, D.C. – Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is attempting the get the Bureau of Reclamation, a water supply agency, to build an $85 million bridge for the city of Folsom California, north-east of Sacramento at the expense of federal taxpayers, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog organization.

H.R. 2301, introduced in June 2001 by Rep. Doolittle, directs the Secretary of the Interior to construct an $85 million bridge on federal land near Folsom Dam in California.

“If this bridge is such a priority, then the City of Folsom should pay their fair share,” said Aileen Roder, Policy Analyst, at Taxpayers for Common Sense. “If local interests want more lanes or a substantially improved bridge, then they should cough up a portion of the funding.”

Currently, a two-lane bridge traverses the Folsom Dam. H.R. 2301 would likely upgrade the bridge from two lanes to four lanes without going through the necessary United States Department of Transportation process for identifying situations where the upgrade of a two-lane road to a four-lane road is justified. Bill proponents cited security and traffic concerns to support their assertion that the Bureau of Reclamation should construct this bridge adjacent to Folsom Dam.

“Simply put, the Bureau is in the water supply business not the bridge-building business,” Roder continued. “Foisting responsibilities upon the Bureau that are outside of its core mission reduces the agency’s effectiveness. This bridge work will compete with and potentially crowd out legitimate Bureau of Reclamation funding in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill.”

The bill also ignores plans by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a temporary bridge near Folsom Dam, contains no local cost sharing for an enhanced bridge and makes an end run of the normal authorization process for bridge building.

In February, the Corps of Engineers released a Final Supplemental Plan Formulation Report/Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (FEIS). This FEIS called for a 7-foot raise of Folsom Dam in order to reduce the City of Sacramento’s flood risk to a 1-in-213 chance in any given year. Recognizing the obvious impact of the raise on the dam bridge traffic, the Corps proposed a temporary bridge southeast of Folsom dam. The temporary bridge would be similarly sized to the existing dam bridge and is estimated to cost $20 to $30 million. The temporary bridge is slated for removal after the raise is complete, but alternatively the bridge could remain in place if a local sponsor is identified to assume the operation and maintenance responsibilities.

According to Congressman Doolittle’s June 26, 2001 press release on H.R. 2301, “The region’s heavy reliance on the Folsom Dam Road means that even temporary closures can snarl traffic through Folsom, inconveniencing drivers and harming the local retail-based economy.” Representative Doolittle added, “It is clear that a permanent, full-service bridge is needed to ensure greater transportation efficiency and commuter convenience.”

“Building a bridge to replace the one traversing Folsom Dam may potentially be tied to security concerns, but building an enhanced, four-lane bridge cannot be attributed to security,” responded Roder. “The federal taxpayer should not be picking up the whole $85 million tab for commuter convenience.”

“This bill is a blatant attempt to take advantage of legitimate security concerns and end run the normal process and federal-local cost sharing for building road improvements. Congress should not raid the coffers of other agencies to pay for the traffic convenience of a few local beneficiaries,” concluded Roder.

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