U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers (R) Under Fire For I-66 Project

U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers (R) is under fire for the $90 million ,deep in a hole, interstate 66 project. I am a Democrat and will support Democrats, but over the 27 years that Rogers has represented Kentucky's 5th congressional district, this destitute region has blossomed. Is it Hal's cash? Maybe. I dare anyone to label U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers (R) as a fiscal Conservative, I dare ya,

From the Louisville Courier Journal

SOMERSET, Ky. -- U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers has funneled nearly $90 million in federal funds toward a proposed interstate highway in Kentucky that likely will never cross the state, much less stretch beyond its borders.

Despite the substantial expenditure of funds, not a single shovelful of dirt has been turned on Interstate 66, conceived nearly two decades ago as a coast-to-coast corridor that would run through Southern Kentucky. Since then, it has been abandoned by every other state as unnecessary or too expensive.

....

Rogers, a Somerset Republican who has championed I-66 since the early 1990s, turns aside questions about the wisdom of building it, saying they reflect a bias against rural Kentucky, including his district.

"I didn't hear these arguments when we were talking about building I-75 through the Bluegrass, the charming, beautiful part of our state," he said in a recent interview. "… But when we start building … a highway through the most impoverished part of the state … we hear all of this noise about, 'Oh, it's not needed.' Well, we could have made that same argument in all of these highways that we've built over the years."

There is a real bias against rural Kentucky and rural Kentuckians, I agree with Rogers on that. The environmental impact is static for GOD's sake. If you build a road ANYWHERE you have an impact on the environment.

So 1/3rd of R. G. Dunlop's article is nothing but environmental thriller for filler, it has about as much mass as a marshmallow. The fiscal impact is the only impact in my opinion. If I-66 continues, and it appears it will as long as Rogers is in office, we need to plan for the creation of more jobs as a result for this poor region.

Speaking as an Eastern Kentuckian, not as a Democrat, BACK OFF! If this project puts people to work, I support it 100%. But the money spent vs. the results is disturbing and fiscal oversight should be required for this project.

Comments

[gino]

It appears that the project is an effort to fix highways in Pike Co.(Patton) and pulaski(Rogers). and then drop the project.

Instead of that project lets spend that money on 4 lanning 119.The project for 66 is a dud.

[Shack]

Now that analysis I agree with! 119 needs attention like no other highway in Hal's district. The bridge to nowhere project should also get a boost from Beshear and Hal, a good bi-partisan effort would save that project.

[Big Sandy]

People calling projects in Eastern Kentucky "Bridges to Nowhere" makes me want to kick their ass. I believe Happy Chandler called Bert Combs' Mountain Parkway the same thing, and we all can see how much it has accomplished. I-66 is a vastly needed corridor in this region, that will bring jobs, as well as business and infrastructure to the region.

Big Sandy, maybe you need to do some research before you make a fool out of yourself. The "bridge to nowhere" is a dead as hell industrial park in Bell County that had a bridge built that goes NOWHERE! Idiot.

Hey Bigsandy why dont go on down to the "bridge to nowhere" and set up shop! I am sure some of us Harlan countians will accommodate you!

119 is a "bridge to nowhere" in and of itself. The whole area from wallins on down will be one big ghost town in the next 20 years. The advice that young folks in our area get is to "get the hell out of harlan county". I'm willing to bet 2 out of 5 people in harlan who go to the post office every first of the month didn't do anything to earn one damn dime they are getting. That's one major problem no one wants to talk about.

Well if you people listen to folks like Roger Noe and Silas House and Doug Doerrfield, all of Eastern KY, just not Harlan County, will be a ghost town.

hal rogers should be impeached.

[gino]

Again, lets take a look at the facts. The only money spent so far on I-66 is in Patton and Rogers counties. I believe this is why they are for it so they can use federal money to build road in their area that there is no state money for.

We need to upgrade what we have before we pore millions and billions into new roads like I-66. This money could be used for 4 lanning 119.

All these projects you all bragg about are really known as money to no place but certain pockets. Wise up people, it is the latest U.S. craze in putting money into the special interests. Just like Iraq, drain the country, take away the middle class, and presto, you have wealthy people with one sub-serviant class. You must remember, Americans love slave labor, China is simply re-living the American Industrial Boom; Low
wages + big profits = wealthy class and a
yes master society.