news-record.com

A lousy $10 million.

That's what North Carolina learned last week it's getting in federal stimulus funds for the "critical" Yadkin River Bridge replacement on I-85.

The state asked for $300 million. When it applied last July, Gov. Bev Perdue said in a press release, "Replacing the bridge is critical to preserving safety, travel and commerce along this vital interstate route and is an ideal candidate for recovery funding."

If you're in one of the 70,000 vehicles that cross that bridge every day, you might feel like holding your breath until you reach the other side. Perdue's press release described it in words that won't help you breathe easier:

"The existing I-85 Yadkin River Bridge is outdated and narrow and is currently rated in poor condition and classified as both structurally deficient (having elements that need to be monitored and/or repaired) and functionally obsolete (outdated in design).

"The total crash rate for this portion of I-85 is about 77 percent higher than the average crash rate for comparable roadways across the state, while the fatal crash rate is 80 percent higher."

The state should have done something about this bridge years ago. Given the fatality rate, lives could have been saved. That's something else that can be added to the legacy of underachieving former Gov. Mike Easley.

Perdue's administration is moving. Despite falling $290 million short in hoped-for federal funding, the state "is going to get the bridge replaced in the same time frame," Ted Vaden, a deputy transportation secretary, told me Monday.

But to do that, the state plans to borrow a substantial amount -- $140 million -- from future federal appropriations.

This is the sort of thing that drives Bill Goldston up a wall. I asked the former Democratic state senator from Rockingham County for his take on the state's plan.

"They've been borrowing from future appropriations since I left there in '92," he fumed. "That's what's the matter with the whole thing now. The damn state is broke."

Goldston sued the state several years ago to stop Easley from grabbing Highway Trust Fund money to plug holes in the General Fund budget. But he can't stop the borrowing.

Earlier this month, the state's Debt Affordability Advisory Committee reported, "The combined debt capacity of the Highway Fund and the Highway Trust Fund has been more than utilized until FY 2013."

The Department of Transportation's borrowing plan for the Yadkin River Bridge doesn't count against the state's debt capacity because it utilizes bonds repaid with federal funds, the state treasurer's office informed me Monday, but it does offer another example of what Tom Campbell calls "a shell game."

Campbell, host of "NC SPIN" and a former assistant state treasurer, complains that for the past decade the state, employing various loopholes, has skirted the constitutional requirement that voters approve all debt. The Debt Affordability Advisory Committee noted the same trend, pointing out that "special indebtedness" generally carries a lower rating than voter-approved general obligation bonds and therefore incurs greater financing costs.

Meaning taxpayers don't get a say in issuing the debt but have to pay more for it.

The irony in regard to the Yadkin River Bridge is that the state actually is flush with road and bridge construction money. It was granted $735 million in federal stimulus money for that purpose, more than enough to deal with the dangerous I-85 bottleneck. Instead, it's doling out that money for smaller, lower-priority projects all over the state.

Vaden, with the DOT, said that's because of the state's "equity funding" formula -- a 20-year-old mandate to spread money around.

It's pure politics. Every politician wants a share in his or her own county. Can't have $300 million going to a single bridge straddling just two counties -- Davidson and Rowan.

Of course, that's exactly where it should go if that's where the greatest need is, and to heck with equity.

Vaden noted another irony. Late last month, the state received a whopping $545 million federal grant for high-speed rail improvements -- a very healthy share of the money available.

After that, were the feds going to favor North Carolina so generously again just a couple of weeks later?

No way. You get a half-billion this time, a lousy 10 million the next. Even if you really need a bridge a whole lot more right now than you need high-speed rail.