Executive Order Number Sixty-Nine Establishing A Committee To Recommend Options For Providing Additional Funding To, And Accelerating The Construction Of, Needed Improvements Overseen By The Delaware Department Of Transportation

WHEREAS, the Delaware Department of Transportation (“DelDOT”) has identified significant shortfalls of funding for the Transportation Trust Fund (“TTF”) occasioned by, among other things: i) increasing demands on the State’s transportation system due to unprecedented traffic growth; ii) limited resources for the design and construction of necessary projects to improve safety and provide needed mobility; iii) substantial increases in the costs of land acquisition, labor, and raw materials required to construct and maintain a wide variety of transportation improvements; and iv) cost increasing project delays caused by layers of state and federal regulations; and

WHEREAS, predictable and sustainable funding for critical transportation projects in the State is vital to maintaining the quality of life for the State’s citizens, promoting responsible development without undue damage to environmental, historic, and cultural resources, and ensuring the State’s economic competitiveness and vitality; and

WHEREAS, in the absence of the development of increased resources for the TTF, the State will be unable to provide on a timely basis the key projects identified in DelDOT’s long-range transportation plan, including but not limited to: i) accelerated completion of safety and capacity improvements along, and connecting to, the state’s limited access highways (Routes 1, I-95, I-295, I-495); ii) provision of alternate service roads and the purchase of development moderating easements along the state’s major arterial network (e.g., Routes 1, 13, and 113); iii) revitalization of older residential, commercial and industrial neighborhoods, especially those adjacent to the waterways and rail lines which were the transportation precursors to the existing highway network; and iv) improvements to the quality, variety, and frequency of alternative transportation services by bus, rail, vanpool, rideshare and other methods; and

WHEREAS, it is essential for DelDOT to maintain its current excellent credit rating by not subjecting the TTF to increased leverage through excessive borrowings; and

WHEREAS, the state has previously adopted legislation permitting DelDOT to enter into a variety of public-private partnerships to design and/or build transportation facilities in the state; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has established both legislative authority and a pool of funds available for competitive application by states pursuing innovative financing and construction techniques, and has made these programs a high priority for the U.S. DOT program for federal reauthorization; and

WHEREAS, DelDOT has identified and analyzed several potential options for increasing both short- and long-term resources to the TTF for the purposes of meeting the demands of DelDOT’s long-range plan, including changes to the toll structures on two limited access highways, changes in the allocation of monies from the State’s General Fund, and construction in whole, or in part, of needed improvements to I-95, SR1, and U.S. Route 301 by private sector owners/lessees; and

WHEREAS, it is appropriate and in the best interests of the State that the resource needs of DelDOT and options to undertake key transportation development initiatives be thoroughly explored, examined and evaluated, and it is appropriate that these options be studied by a small group of knowledgeable individuals capable of making comprehensive recommendations in time to permit the Governor and the General Assembly to evaluate and, if desirable, include them into DelDOT’s financial plan for FY 2007 and beyond;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RUTH ANN MINNER, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, DO HEREBY ORDER AND DECLARE AS FOLLOWS:

APPROVED: June 1, 2005