You can cut the Federal government completely out of the loop by eliminating the whole concept of a national transportation system. Good luck with that. There's actually a move among some members of Congress to legislate a "devolution" process that would do exactly that. The most vocal opponents of this process are Republican senators from landlocked states that would be absolutely screwed in this process.
The first national road was legislated by Congress in the very early 1800s during the Jefferson administration. There was quite a debate about the roles of the Federal and state governments in roads back then, and the Federal government won out simply because the establishment of a National Road from Baltimore to the Ohio River valley was one of the conditions under which Ohio was admitted to the Union. Even an anti-Federalist like Thomas Jefferson recognized that without road connections between the interior of North America to the cities and ports in the U.S. along the Atlantic seaboard, there was a serious danger that most of the continent would end up under the control of Great Britain.
“The point is that these funds allow many states to construct transportation infrastructure that they wouldn’t be able to afford without it.”
That is patently false. If the monies were kept in their states (lowering federal taxes), state taxes could capture it and fund the projects. Instead we get the corruption of Congress that turns federal funding into pork barrel projects and as far as fuel taxes go many of the projects it funds often have zero zip nada to do with transportation.
“There was quite a debate about the roles of the Federal and state governments in roads back then, and the Federal government won out simply because the establishment of a National Road from Baltimore to the Ohio River valley was one of the conditions under which Ohio was admitted to the Union.”
Yes the Balitmore and other east coast bankers wanted Congress to do what they could have raised the funds to do, as “opening Ohio” transportation-wise was intended to serve their eastern industrial interests. They most likely would have built their own toll roads to Ohio - floating bonds with tolls to pay for them. Getting Congress to do it added to their profits.
“Thomas Jefferson recognized that without road connections between the interior of North America to the cities and ports in the U.S. along the Atlantic seaboard, there was a serious danger that most of the continent would end up under the control of Great Britain.”
If that is what Jefferson said then he lied. How did Great Britain almost recapture the colonies in the War of 1812? Jefferson was a pacifist who had mothballed most of any U.S. Navy and further gutted the military. He had to be brow beaten in private and in public before going after the Barbary pirates with what fledgling navy we had. What was Great Britain depending on? Jefferson’s weakness.
“Thomas Jefferson recognized that without road connections between the interior of North America to the cities and ports in the U.S. along the Atlantic seaboard, there was a serious danger that most of the continent would end up under the control of Great Britain.”
If that is what Jefferson said then he lied. How did Great Britain almost recapture the colonies in the War of 1812? Jefferson was a pacifist who had mothballed 2/3rd of the U.S. Navy. Britain humiliated the U.S. in 1807 in the last year of Jefferson’s administration, setting the public outcry stage for his successor finally having no choice but to go to war in 1812 and repair the weakness that Jefferson the pacifist had created, for Britain to try to exploit.