Big Recovery Seen for Roads

More than $23 billion is expected to be spent on highway construction this year, signaling the start of a massive recovery in the highway-and-heavy construction industry, according to informed sources.

Four states--California, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York--have programs at or about $1 billion this year, and Illinois is close behind at $900 million.

James Green, associate publisher of the trade publication Highway & Heavy Construction, attributes the recovery to the 5 cents a gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax, passed in 1982, and higher state taxes, which he called “a shot in the arm for a lagging U. S. economy.”