WASHINGTON, May 22, 2003—The Bush administration has proposed a six-year, $247 billion surface transportation reauthorization that, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, will be the largest surface and public transportation investment in U.S. history. According to Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003 (SAFETEA) doubles funding for highway safety over levels provided by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century and serves as a framework for investments needed to maintain and grow the nation's vital transportation infrastructure.

SAFETEA includes continued funding for the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) program under section 201 of the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 of $450 million for each fiscal year from 2004 through 2009.

The ADHS is a federally funded economic development highway system designed to create economic opportunity by overcoming the Appalachian Region's isolation. A total of 2,441 miles of the ADHS's planned 3,025 miles is now open to traffic. Many of the remaining 584 miles will be among the most expensive to build. The most recent estimate of the cost to complete the ADHS (2002) puts the remaining federal funds needed to complete the system at $4.45 billion in 2000 dollars. The SAFETEA would allocate a total of $2.7 billion to the system over the next six fiscal years.