Trump to Unveil First Shovel-Ready Highway Initiative: Make Exit Numbers Great Again!

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By Lydia DePillis | August 1, 2018 3:22 PM ET

President Trump finally unveiled his long-awaited infrastructure plan on Wednesday - and the first shovel-ready job he has lined up for the country is a head-scratcher.

The 53-page document lays out his vision: To turn $200 billion in federal money into $1.5 trillion in transportation efficiencies by aligning highway exit numbers with their corresponding mile-marker equivalents. It is called the milepost numbering system - and it is now the federal government standard for all highways which cross state lines or have ramps to interstate highways.

"For too long we have had states with major artery roadways that do not abide by commonsense best practices that go all the way back to the 1930s," said David B. Bernhardt, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT). "The idea of having a single, uniform exit numbering system which is based on the distance between exits is something that goes back to Eisenhower. This is a great day for our roads, for our drivers, and for America. You'll no longer need a map to determine how far exit 12 is from exit 23. Just do the math."

The total budget for the initiative is slated to be around $500B. Only $200 billion of that, however, would come from direct federal spending. The rest is supposed to come from state and local governments, which are expected to match any federal allocation by at least a four-to-one ratio.

"What we really want to do is provide America's drivers with the best possible driving experience," said Elaine Chao, Trump's Secretary of Transportation. "And we understand that this is politically hard. It's not going to be easy. To renumber everything. And we know there will be some crazy brunettes that are pissed, and they might even spit on some cars passing by. The President is ready for that. It's about isolating that negative energy from the flow of traffic."

"For too long, lawmakers have invested in infrastructure inefficiently, ignored critical needs, and allowed it to deteriorate. As a result, the United States has fallen further and further behind other countries," Trump's message read. "It is time to give Americans the working, modern infrastructure they deserve."

The White House says its plan will create $1.5 trillion for repairing and upgrading America's infrastructure.

Only $200 billion of that, however, would come from direct federal spending. The rest is supposed to come from state and local governments, which are expected to match any federal allocation by at least a four-to-one ratio. States have gradually assumed more of the responsibility for funding infrastructure in recent years, and the White House says it wants to accelerate that trend.

"What we really want to do is provide opportunities for state and local governments to receive federal funding when they're doing what's politically hard, and increasing investment in infrastructure," DJ Gribbin, Trump's special assistant for infrastructure, said to the United States Conference of Mayors last month.

However, existing funding sources — such as sales taxes that have already been levied to pay for transit projects — may count towards a local jurisdiction's contribution.

"New Jersey has a unique plan to handle this - and it's only possible because we are already so close to full compliance," said Phil Murphy, NJ's Governor. "We are going to be imposing a large tax on drivers who purport to be awesome race car drivers only to later lose to a white pickup truck on a twenty mile stretch of Rt 80." The length of highway is known to racers as "The 2nd Grade Math Exam," referencing exit 34 in Wharton to exit 54 in Totowa and the simple subtraction needed to calculate distance.

Over the past year, Democrats have accused Trump of seeking to create the $200 billion infrastructure fund by proposing cuts to other infrastructure-related programs. Gribbin committed to leaving major pots of money intact, such as the Highway Trust Fund, but said that some existing spending may be "repurposed."

The White House's budget, which was also released on Monday, proposed a 19 cut to the Department of Transportation, including axing grant programs for transit and other competitive projects proposed by local governments.