Boon -- OrBoondoggle?

To Republican Congressman Robert Walker, the $88 billion highway bill is filled with "page after page of pork-barrel projects." But to drivers stuck on Boston's "distressway," inching along Illinois 121 toward Peoria, or stewing in traffic in hundreds of other communities, funds for new roads, bridges and tunnels cannot come soon enough. Some of the most urgent -- and the most questionable:

Los Angeles: Metro Rail. Planned as the area's first rapid-transit system since the "red car" rail network was scrapped in the 1960s, the 20-mile, $4.5 billion subway is nonetheless considered extravagant. Construction began last fall on the first, 4.4-mile downtown segment, which will cost $1.25 billion, with $870 million coming from Washington. Opponents favor less costly projects, like surface railroads along existing freeways. One critical slogan: "Stop the Subway and Save Mass Transit." The highway bill gives L.A. another, more widely praised plum: 27 smaller projects, valued at $74 million, to improve gridlocked roads around the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach.

Phoenix: Papago Freeway. Just 26 blocks of roadway downtown is needed to complete the 2,484-mile Interstate 10 from Jacksonville, Fla., to Los Angeles. Price: $182 million. Federal share in the bill: $28 million.

Dallas: North Central Expressway. This aging artery to the northern suburbs of Richardson and Plano has been overloaded for years. Eight miles of road will double in width to eight lanes; the frightfully short merge lanes will be lengthened. Price: $109 million. Federal share: $40 million.

Minnesota: Bloomington Project. A $47 million replacement of a bridge over the Minnesota River will link the area south of the river with the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. The present structure, a temporary span with a six-year anticipated life, was put up in 1978. It has been underwater three times after storms. Highway-bill contribution: $16 million.

Illinois: Lincoln-Morton Link. Already under construction, the 31-mile highway will connect Interstates 74 and 55, cutting 40 miles off the trip from Peoria to St. Louis. Backed by House Minority Leader Robert Michel, who represents the area, the stretch would provide an alternative to Route 121, two lanes of inadequate winding blacktop on which highballing truckers terrify motorists. Total price tag: $135 million, of which the highway bill provides $17 million.

Pennsylvania: Altoona to Tyrone. State Road 220 is congested and heavily traveled. A twelve-mile stretch will be widened from two to four lanes, ultimately linking economically depressed Altoona to I-80 and New York City. Price: $90 million. Federal share: $45 million.

Boston: Central Artery/Harbor Tunnel. The I-93 north-south expressway and the two tunnels that connect downtown to Logan International Airport are congested eight hours a day. Massive infusions of money into the mass-transit system, boat shuttles and airport helicopter services have failed to reduce traffic. Solution: widen and lower to ground level the now elevated distressway and build a third harbor tunnel. Price: $3.1 billion. Federal share: $2.5 billion.

Savannah: Talmadge Memorial Bridge. The city's hopes of becoming a major port are pinned on modernizing the bridge to allow passage of bigger ships. Talmadge Memorial was struck by a cargo boom of the U.S.S. Callaghan during military exercises in July 1983, underscoring the need to raise the span from its current 136-ft. height to 175 ft. Price: $90 million. Federal share: $53 million.

Florida: The Pizza Connection. In Sanford, a new cloverleaf will serve no other purpose than to provide access to 4,000 acres of development property owned by Pizza King Jeno Paulucci. He calls it visionary; critics see it as $14.5 million worth of pepperoni.