Pittsburgh Councilman Ricky Burgess unveiled today legislation that would require a six-year capital spending plan, potentially totalling some $200 million to $250 million, for the city's spending on roads, bridges, development and other infrastructure.

In a morning news conference in council's conference room, Mr. Burgess said his legislation would "change, fundamentally, the way capital projects are handled in the city of Pittsburgh.

"The way in which projects are selected will not be in a back room," he said. The public process needed to craft the plan would force administrations to explain the rationale for their spending decisions, he said, and then to justify any deviations from the road map.

He cast the legislation as part of a push he launched in March to ensure that lower-income communities get not just federal development funds, but a fair share of locally generated city spending on paving and other infrastructure matters. He said that would be a change from 30 years of inadequate investment in struggling neighborhoods.

"It gives us the vehicle to enact those changes, and to make sure those changes occur in the light of the day in a clear, transparent, and interdepartmental way," he said. "If we as a city adhere to this six-year capital improvement plan, all neighborhoods of Pittsburgh will receive fair funding for their capital projects."

Mr. Burgess said he wants council to vote on the legislation by the end of June, so that it can govern the creation of the 2011 capital budget. He said that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration was aware that he would demand "a discussion" of capital spending, but that he had not yet talked about the legislation with fellow council members. Right now, capital projects are developed on a yearly basis except for multi-year projects.

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