"Meanwhile, the old locks and dams are costing the country $640 million a year in delays and closures, according to the Army corps....Even with a tax credit, though, companies building roads or locks would want a return on their investment — most likely in the form of toll collection, said Mike Toohey, president of the Waterways Council, an advocacy group for the river shipping industry. His industry is “not in favor of a toll,” he said. Still, he is optimistic that spending on inland waterways will increase under a new administration."

What baffles me is the total dismissal of a private infratructure project which charges tolls. This would seem to be a perfect project for user-pays funding: the project offers a service with a specific, discrete in time and place, easily calculated value which is extremely large to the user who are supposedly suffering severely under the status quo. My only guess is that the lobbyist affiliation here is the whole story: the industries think they can get full taxpayer subsidies for the costs without having to pay much or any of it, and it's worth waiting for a government solution.