But the STPP report released Tuesday concludes -- on the basis of FHWA data -- that spending on new roads amounts to the biggest funding diversion from needed road maintenance. The report, co-released by STPP and dozens of metropolitan and local transportation reform groups nationwide, charges that the highway lobby argues for increased funding from Congress each year based on dire predictions of a maintenance "crisis" that threatens the nation's roads and bridges, but then spends nearly half of the money building new highways or new highway lanes. 44% of U.S. highway spending in 1995 -- $4.9 billion -- was devoted to additional highway capacity. At the same time, 20% of the road-miles in the country are rated "poor" or "mediocre." The new highways and extra lanes then add to the maintenance bill and the cries of "infrastructure crisis" during the next federal transportation bill authorization cycle.

The American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA), lobbyists for the oil, auto and highway construction industries, have argued for the elimination of federal funding for bicycle, pedestrian and transit projects in next year's reauthorization of ISTEA.

Eight states spend one-half or more of funding on new roads, but have at least 20 percent of existing roads classified as in poor or mediocre condition. Those "egregious eight" states are: North Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Mississippi, Colorado and California.