In addition to pulling levers that changed the balance of power in Washington, American voters OK'd nearly $41 billion in construction project financing, an approval rate not seen since the late 1980s. But that was little consolation for some high-profile measures on both sides of the country that fell victim to economic fears and anti-tax fervor.

The pull of burgeoning populations propelled school construction funding to close to 70% of the total, according to The Bond Buyer, an industry publication. But some initiatives in another usually favored niche--transportation--failed to win support from wary voters (see chart). In Washington state, a $7.8-billion transportation referendum was overwhelmingly defeated. Another taxpayer-led initiative further reduced state license fees, handing transportation another setback in an area now known for the nation's second-worst highway congestion. "Some got through, but some high-profile ones did not," says Casey Dinges, American Society of Civil Engineers' senior managing director. Click here to view chart

CALIFORNIA

California resoundingly voted "yes" on schools, approving a massive $13.05-billion construction and modernization bond measure believed to be the largest ever. "It would be an understatement to say that the construction community is pleased that [Proposition] 47 passed," says Thomas T. Holsman, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of California.

Schools will receive $11.4 billion and another $1.65 billion will be dedicated to the state's university and community college system. Led by a successful $3.3-billion proposal in Los Angeles, local bond measures valued at about $7 billion gained approval, says Tim Coyle, senior vice president for the California Building Industry Association.

Proposition 47 clears the way for the state to start addressing its immediate multibillion-dollar construction and modernization backlog, say industry sources. "There's very little doubt in my mind that there's going to be a flood of work [hitting] the street right after the first of the year," says Richard A. Henry, vice president of educational services for McCarthy, proper corporate name to come. Districts statewide are expected to step up their construction programs, and some of the the busiest regions will be urban and suburban districts in Los Angeles, Orange County, the San Francisco Bay area, and Southern California's Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

But the anticipated glut of work presents both opportunities and pitfalls. Contractors qualified to meet high construction standards will be at a premium, and the situation presents "a prime opportunity for anybody who wanted to get into" the school construction market, Henry says.

Rushing too many projects into the marketplace too soon could attract unqualified contractors and hamper quality control, Henry says. "You can spend your money really foolishly and inefficiently if all you're trying to do is show quick results," he says. The volume of work is likely to raise school construction costs, he says. State-certified inspectors are already in short supply "without having all that work hit the street at once," says Henry.

The election results also bodes well for water projects. A $3.44-billion water quality and wetlands protection proposal includes $500 million for water treatment and wetlands restoration, plus $100 million for desalination and other water projects. San Francisco's passage of a $1.6-billion bond issue opens the door to a planned $3.6-billion upgrade of the region's aging Hetch Hetchy water delivery system.

A $2.1-billion housing trust fund measure appears likely to unleash pent-up demand in the low and moderate housing market. The availability of $1.1 billion in low-interest loans for rental housing construction and other purposes "will have an impact overnight," says CBIA's Coyle. Many deals with nonprofit developers are already in place, lacking only "that last little bit of cash," he says. Now, Coyle predicts, "you'll see projects being approved all over the state." The measure earmarks $200 million for farm workers' housing and $385 million to fund homeless shelters and other programs.

Transportation-related measures gained mixed results. Voters rejected a controversial plan to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars from motor vehicle sales-tax revenue annually to a grab-bag of transportation and environmental projects. Critics charged that many donors to the campaign would have directly benefited from the programs funded.

Local measures were a key battleground. Southern California's fast-growing Riverside County overwhelmingly backed a 30-year sales tax extension that will raise an estimated $500 billion for a variety of highway, road, and rail projects. Fresno County approved a similar measure that could raise $482 million. A proposed property tax increase intended to raise $1 billion for a seismic upgrade of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District voters fell just percentage points short of the required two-thirds majority in three San Francisco Bay-area counties. These and other measures tell Holsman that the required two-thirds approval margin makes such measures "a large uphill battle."

FLORIDA

On the other coast, Florida may become a construction magnet, with voters in Miami-Dade County approving a $6.7-billion transportation plan for a rail system and related projects. The vote saved rapid transit plans in South Florida, says Virginia Diaz, special assistant to Miami-Dade transportation director. The tax will fund a $7 billion, 90-mile expansion of the rail system, $400 million in other capital transit improvements, and $500 million in road projects. Construction will begin on phase one of the rail expansion within two years. "This time we let the community create the solution to the gridlock," says Sandy O'Neil, special assistant to Miami Mayor Alex Penelas.

Florida voters also approved a highly controversial constitutional amendment to cap student class size. The South Florida chapter of the AGC opposed it because of its high cost, with estimates as high as $27 billion through 2010. "It will be good for us, we'll be building billions of dollars of schools, but no one knows where the money will come from," says Leonard Mills, executive director. The Haskell Co., a contractor in Jacksonville, also opposed the measure. "It likely will require taking money from other programs," says a spokesman.

Orange County already has nearly $1 billion in needs that it funded with increased sales tax. ''I think we will see more and more commissions going to that,'' says Frank Cardinal, vice president of J.A. Jones's Florida division, which has done $300 million in school work over five years along the heavily populated I-4 corridor. Contractors in the market should do well, he says. But newcomers could have a tough time since most contracts are awarded to construction managers based on their Florida resumes.

VIRGINIA

Virginia voters rolled over two initiatives that could have raised $8.8 billion for state transportation projects. Northern Virginia voters nixed a plan to raise sales tax by a half cent, Eastern Virginia defeated a one-cent tax increase by a hefty 62% to 38%. Virginia DOT is looking to the legislature to take the next step. "The voters made it very clear they do not want to pay more tax," says David Eastwood, chairman of Skanska's unit in Norfolk. The state is reorganizing now to set up a separate unit to look at large-dollar projects that could be built with more private funds, says a DOT spokeswoman.

Fluor Daniel will shift its resources toward private projects there, says Steve Dobbs, president of the transportation business unit. The company has a proposal in now to add four lanes to the Washington Beltway, free HOV lanes that lone drivers could use for a toll.

OREGON

Two ballot measures in Oregon to provide funding for seismic upgrades for thousands of public buildings were approved by voters. Measures 15 and 16 allow the state to issue bonds to pay for assessments that will identify buildings at high-risk to earthquake damage and necessary retrofits. The measures allow the state to move forward on emergency services buildings and public schools only.

While both measures were approved comfortably, they received the most support in the urban counties of western Oregon. Pre-election campaigns were low-key and without television advertisements. Voter approval is evidence of the growing awareness of the dangers posed by seismicity in Oregon. Increasingly, geologists are mapping new faults and detecting evidence of substantial earthquakes in the recent geologic past. Scientists now conclude that Oregon could potentially be hit by a major earthquake at any time.

WASHINGTON STATE

While Seattle voters bucked the statewide trend, authorizing a plan for a $1.75-billion, 14-mile-long monorail, state officials must now go back to the drawing board for transportation funding.

Governor Gary Locke noted his disappointment with the election results but vowed to begin work on a new transportation package that addresses voters' cost and accountability concerns. "Hundreds of thousands of people across the state said they want transportation improvements; they just didn't want the package that was on the ballot," Locke said.

Douglas B. MacDonald, secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation, says the Nov. 5 vote will effectively terminate the handful of "megaprojects" under way in Washington, including replacement of Seattle's aging and seismically vulnerable downtown waterfront viaduct, construction of a new floating bridge across Lake Washington and a planned widening of Interstate 405---all billion-dollar projects. It will also cost the transportation department 600 jobs over the next two years.

"As a practical matter, this means there is not going to be any new construction in the state in the next biennium," says James Metcalf, former manager of public involvement for United Infrastructure Washington Inc., the Bechtel/Kiewit joint venture building the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

"The immediate impact, for firms like ourselves, is that a lot of projects are either going to be put on hold or greatly reduced in terms of their scope and budget," says Jared A. Smith, vice president and area manager for Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Parsons was part of a business coalition that raised more than $4 million in support of the transportation referendum. It also now has a contract to manage environmental impact statement preparation and preliminary design for the Alaskan Way Viaduct, a planned $10 billion project that Smith says is now on a back burner. "We are looking at a cutback in the project of at least two-thirds," says Smith. "It will be a dramatic reduction."

"Essentially, DOT is now down to a preservation and maintenance mode," says Metcalf. "They'll be laying off 600 people over the next two years. This was a serious setback. "The only projects in the state now are Sound Transit (Seattle light-rail) and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (an $820 million project). It's a crying shame the legislature didn't pass a transportation package when they had the opportunity to do so."

Smith says the overall impact of the I-776, the rollback of license fees, will be $1.3 billion over the next 10 years."It will have a dramatic impact on city and county highway programs. Seattle is looking at a nine percent reduction, the county, likewise."

The $7.8 billion gas tax referendum was to have been paired with a proposed $11-billion regional transportation package that was to go before Seattle-area voters in May. Whether that package will now go to voters is uncertain. There also is talk of sending a revised R-51 back to voters in the spring. But backers are disillusioned by last week's vote, say sources, and will be reluctant to spend additional time and money if the odds of passage don't improve.

The present monorail connects downtown Seattle to the Space Needle, a roughly 3-minute ride that is primarily a tourist attraction. The proposed expansion will connect Ballard, West Seattle, downtown, the stadiums and Seattle Center. If approved, engineering, design and permitting is expected to take about two years and construction another two, according to Elevated Transportation Company, the force behind the measure. While this first expansion is about 14 miles, the long-term vision is for a 58-mile network.

NEVADA

Nevada voters passed initiatives that will fund school and transportation projects, particularly in fast growing Washoe County. The county school district won a bond measure that will raise up to $309 million for the acquisition, construction, improvement and equipping of school facilities. The bonds won't increase of the existing school bond property tax rate of $0.38 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The bond authorization will expire November 5, 2012.

Student enrollment in Washoe County has grown from approximately 40,000 to 57,600 students within the past 10 years, and is projected to increase by approximately 22,600 additional students by 2012. Unless funds for capital improvements are provided, the continued growth will surpass the District's ability to provide seats for students or to modernize and upgrade existing schools. Critics want the District to address projected enrollment growth by maximizing the usage of existing classroom space through year-round schools, double sessions and bigger class sizes.

But voters failed to approve a question that sought an exemption from the state debt limit for school construction. Currently, Nevada's Constitution limits the amount it can borrow to 2% of its assessed land value, reducing its loan capacity. Proponents claim that several state school districts lack the monies needed to build additional school facilities and repair/expand existing ones. Since there is a loan limit, the state is reluctant to issue bonds (or borrow) for school construction. The exemption would allow the state to bond for school construction without prohibiting its debt capacity for other public works projects. Critics say that a waiver could lead the state to take on too much debt, potentially creating an additional tax burden.

Voters did approve a question that asks the legislature for more transportation monies. Through 2030, there has been a $820 million shortfall in funding for necessary transportation improvements. Meanwhile, travel in Washoe County has doubled in the last 20 years to nearly 3 billion miles annually and will double again by 2030.

A Regional Transportation Plan calls for new roads, expansions and upgrades financed through a inflation rate increases for developer impact fees and fuel taxes, plus a 1/8-cent sales tax increase. Twenty years of under-funded repairs led to a $110 million backlog in major rehabilitation in 1990, which grew to $242 million by 2002. If the trend continues, the RTC estimates a $1 .6 billion backlog by 2030. Critics charged that the funding package is impractical and gives too much latitude to the tax structure.

Voters also approved an initiative that asks the legislature for tax increases to raise $2.7 billion over 25 years for roadway and transit improvements. Monies would come from increased developer fees, plus jet aviation fuel and retail tax increases of 1/4 of 1%. An estimated 1,000 new residents join the 1.5 million people in Clark County every week, bringing with them 750 vehicles. Population projections over the next 20 years could see Clark County swell to 2.6 million residents. The RTC proposes to build 425 new high-speed lane miles, improve traffic synchronization, add more bus routes, and expedite the completion of Interstate 215, also known as the Las Vegas Beltway.

UTAH

More than 68% of state voters rejected State Initiative #1, which would have created the Radioactive Waste Restrictions Act, which would raise industry taxes and outlaw dumping of hotter radioactive waste than what is already allowed by the state.

Envirocare in remote Tooele County is the only radioactive waste company in the state and consequently the sole company that would be subject to the new tax. Envirocare is pursuing a state permit to take waste that is more radioactive that what they already receive.

This measure would raise taxes on the low-radioactivity waste already permitted, and direct a portion of tax revenues from hot waste to public school and homeless programs. It would change the tax on low level nuclear waste from about 35 cents per cubic foot to up to $150 per cubic foot. The initiative would also bar Envirocare from accepting any wastes hotter than the class A wastes - mostly contaminated soils - the company currently accepts. Envirocare is one of three disposal firms in the country for commercially produced, low-level radioactive waste. Industry opponents say Utah has become a magnet for radioactive waste because of low taxes on radioactive waste disposal.

COLORADO

Colorado voters also displayed their tax wariness. Those in Boulder County rejected Issue #1B, whick requested the authority to increase sales and use taxes by .25%, starting in 2004 and ending June 30, 2023, in order to raise $14 million annually to pay for transportation projects. Half of the funds will be used for highway improvements and the other half for transit improvements. Proponents argued that the funds collected would be used to speed up projects that might otherwise not be completed for decades. In addition, it will encourage matching funds investments from state and federal agencies and create jobs. Also defeated was Fort Collins Issue #2C, which sought to increase sales and use taxes by .25% and create a 1% excise tax on building permits to finance transportation improvements. "Generally, when you tell people what specific projects they're being asked to support; they're usually supportive of that," says Jay Lower, president of the Colorado Contractors Association, Denver. "I wonder if people are taking a more cautious attitude during our economic situation and waiting until it rebounds. We did support the Fort Collins Issue #2C, which is undergoing a recount."

Meanwhile, gubernatorial results on Nov. 5 will also play a role in future work. The reelection of George Pataki (R-N.Y.) could now spur New York City transit work. "This is likely to be his last term," says one source. "He will want to have a legacy." In Georgia, observers are wondering about projects with Gov. Roy Barnes' defeat. "It's likely to cause delays, especially to the [$2.2-billon] Northern Arc, a very marketable job" says Skanska's Eastwood.