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Northwest Federal Transportation Projects Sit In Limbo SEATTLE, WA (N3) - A Kentucky senator's hold on legislation in Congress is having a ripple effect in the Northwest. Jim Bunning's procedural move is keeping the Senate from putting new money in the federal Highway Trust Fund. That puts four projects in the Northwest in limbo. KPLU's Doug Nadvornick reports.

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The federal Transportation Department says work has been stopped at three road and bridge projects, two in Idaho and one in central Oregon. At a fourth project east of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, some work continues, but it's scaled back.

U.S. Department of Transportation spokeswoman Cathy St. Denis says none of her agency's employees in the two states had to stay home because of the furlough. Instead, she says, they were shifted to other work.

Meanwhile, the standoff in Congress has the attention of Washington state Transportation Department officials. Spokesman Lloyd Brown says his agency is expecting a 13-million dollar reimbursement payment from the feds on Wednesday.

Lloyd Brown: "If this thing carries out for another week or two weeks and we start seeing that the reimbursements from the federal government aren't coming in, we'll have to really take a real hard look at what projects are continuing."

Brown says the dispute could delay two future road projects in western Washington.
I'm Doug Nadvornick reporting. © Copyright 2012, N3