Senate GOP highlights ‘turtle tunnel’ projects as stimulus waste

The Department of Transportation has announced over $17 billion in federal stimulus funds spent on highways, projects which Senate Republicans are highlighting Monday as examples of waste in the recovery plan.

Senate Republican sources pointed to over $50 million dollars’ worth of projects in the latest burst of highway stimulus spending as examples of squandered federal money.

Those criticisms were based on an earlier, incomplete listing of projects. The DoT has listed 5,900 projects — including the ones sparking conservative complaints.

Among the highlighted programs were $31.5 million for repairing a bike trail (and resurfacing I-25) in Denver, Colo. and over $2.4 million for a bike path in Pike County, Pa.

The GOP-ers also criticized projects like the “Lake Jackson Ecopassage; Pedestrian/Wildlife Underpass,” which will cost just over $3.4 million, as a “turtle tunnel.”

Other projects, like the “Deer Underpass” in Carbon, Wyo., here labeled a bit more straightforwardly. Same with the “Snow Fence Replacement” project in Albany, Wyo. Those projects cost and $1.5 and $4.5 million, respectively.