Sun Road may not get needed funding

Sen. Jon Tester said last week that the reconstruction project for Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road likely won’t see the funding it needs to finish the job in one lump sum.

Park officials recently said it will take about $20 million more to complete the project.

“I don’t think we’ll get $20 million in one lump sum,” Tester said.

Tester said he recognizes the economic value of the road but noted that $20 million “is a lot of dough.”

Congress is expected to debate a highway bill this year, but there’s a big problem — the federal Highway Trust Fund that pays for most road and bridge projects across the U.S. is going broke.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce president Thomas Donohue suggested last month that the best way to properly fund the nation’s road and bridge projects is to raise the gas tax above the current 18.4 cents per gallon.

The gas tax is the main revenue source for the nation’s Highway Trust Fund, which is expected to have a deficit by fiscal year 2015, according to a recently released Congressional Budget Office report. Payments for about $4 billion due by the end of this year might be delayed.

Unlike the general budget, the trust fund has no congressional authorization to borrow funds or overspend its budget.

Park officials hoped to have the Sun Road reconstruction project completed by 2017.