I normally am a big fan of state primacy, but not when it comes to DOT.  In my many years of experience dealing with the "planners" at DOT- at least the SE group, it seems that they will do what they can to avoid getting meaningful local input for prioritization of projects.

For example, while the very busy Tongass Highway is heavily rutted in several sections in downtown and other parts of Ketchikan, the "planners" decided to spend millions paving miles of gravel at the end of the road- that are basically used by cruise ship buses in the summer and then not maintained year round. That project- part of their "Gravel to Pavement" project to which the "planners" allocate federal dollars that could be spent elsewhere- might make sense if the year round heavily used roads were in tip top condition.

So everytime it rains & I see seniors and others getting splashed by walls of water in Ketchikan as cars go, I think of the "planners" at DOT.

In sum, keep the foxes out of the chicken coop.