Healthy transportation infrastructure is vital in Idaho and across the nation, promoting economic growth and improving personal mobility and quality of life. Strong surface transportation systems are not only central to the success of commerce, moving goods and products from farms and factories to stores and consumers, but also enable us to move safely and efficiently to school, work, around town and around the state and country.
On a more general level, any effort to address our nation’s transportation infrastructure needs must be developed in a way that invests in the needs of rural states. Idaho is central to interstate travel and commerce in the Pacific Northwest. I am committed to ensuring that the federal highway program makes a substantial net investment in Idaho’s roads and highways and fully supports state and locally-based decision-making in that process. The Idaho Transportation Department is distinctively able to effectively and responsibly allocate resources under their purview, targeting investment in projects where our communities need them most.