The road before William Ankner is full of potholes and uneven places.
When Ankner became secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development in 2008, he inherited a crumbling infrastructure with a $14 billion backlog of projects. A long career in state transportation systems has sharpened Ankner’s focus on reversing the rate of infrastructure deterioration by preserving state roads and bridges.
Potential federal cuts will provide significant challenges for DOTD, Ankner says, placing system preservation efforts in jeopardy and halting new projects after Oct. 1.
“We won’t be doing all of the things we’d like to do,” Ankner says, “but we’re also grown-ups and know that you can’t get everything you want.”
1. You’ve been in office for 19 months. What is your assessment of your time in office thus far?
We’ve accomplished a great deal with the support of the governor, the Legislature and the people. We’ve had $2 billion to invest in our transportation system, and we have invested it. We’ve had $2 billion in lettings [new construction]. In the first 18 months, that’s a lot of work. When you compare the last three administrations and their first 18 months lettings to lettings, we have put out more work than the last three administrations combined.
2. When you came into office, there was a $14 billion backlog of projects. What has been the progress on that?
I can’t tell you where we are in respect to the backlog because, more important to me anyway, is the condition of our system. We’ve stopped the deterioration of our existing system, and that is the best news. At the same time, because we’ve had stimulus and surplus dollars, we’ve been able to use those to address some of the more pressing congestion problems.
3. One issue in the development community has been road impact fees. What is your policy on that?
I am just implementing a policy that was developed at the end of the last administration, and it’s a policy that I happen to agree with. The policy is looking at development and the control of access that deals with our flow of traffic. We want you to put a road that connects your strip development so that there is one access or two accesses that are patrolled by a light, but not let every storefront have an access. Then you start to preserve some of the capacity that you just built with less congestion and less need to go out and put in another lane, which is very expensive.
4. Are road impact fees tied to absorbed costs from traffic flow improvements or to property value?
We’re looking for developers to mitigate the impact that they are causing, so one of the requirements for them to get a permit is they go out and do a traffic analysis. Then we look at the developer to tell us how they are planning to mitigate the impact of their development. They may have to put in a new traffic light or turning lanes in order to resolve the traffic problems created with their roadway. If they are going to create the congestion, they have to help solve some of the problems.
5. What is the impact of road impact fees on economic development?
A good transportation system has value to developers. It is in their best interests to keep that transportation system working. This should not be a hindrance to economic development. Most of the country has these kinds of rules in place, and it has not caused an economic development meltdown.
6. Baton Rouge’s Green Light Plan includes several projects on state roads. Why?
There is a desire of communities to have certain avenues or corridors developed. If those roads are in reasonably good shape, we’re not going to be addressing those when we’ve got roads that are falling apart or in danger of falling apart. If communities want to invest in certain quarters that are not high on our priority, they are more than welcome to invest in them and we’ll work with them to make sure that we end up with a mutually beneficial investment.
7. So will DOTD compensate the city for the work?
No. We don’t have the money.
8. Because of budget cuts, more surplus money won’t be coming in for a while. In light of that, what are your priorities?
My priorities are going to be system preservation and preventative maintenance, which means that there will be less new capacity. We’ve got some major uncompleted sections of roadway as well as some major reconstruction or replacement decisions coming up.
9. What is your budget outlook for next year?
My biggest concern is that I have no idea what is going to happen with the federal program. The federal government’s transportation program ends Sept. 30. The Highway Trust Fund is bankrupt. We could be looking at a 40% to 50% cut overall, and I don’t know what’s going to happen.
10. What would the impact of a 40% to 50% cut be?
The projects that we have the surplus or stimulus dollars for will go forward. It’s really going to be [impacting] all of the work and effort we’ve made in trying to do more of our systems preservation. More roads and bridges will fail faster than they should. We won’t be doing any new capacity whatsoever. Roads like I-49 north must suffer further delay. It will become a significant challenge, and right now it’s unclear what the path is.
