Lest we treat traffic like by-the-book plumbers (Bigger pipes! More asphalt) rather than enlightened engineers (Better solutions! Cleaner alternatives! Properly maintain what we have!), let's make this stimulus situation an opportunity to get on the right track(s).
Do the right thing for state's infrastructure - JSOnline:
Last weekend, Gov. Jim Doyle attended a landmark meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington. The governors came together to discuss building new transportation systems and electrical power grids. But it was the spending of federal stimulus funding that became the talk of the meeting and the focus of nationwide press coverage. Doyle will face key decisions about how best to use the federal funds.
The stakes for the people of Wisconsin could not be higher. Decades of ill-advised spending on new highway construction have left the state's transportation system in critical condition. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 1,302 bridges in Wisconsin are "structurally deficient" and could pose a safety hazard, and 9.4% of our roads are in "poor" condition. In addition, $630 million in ready-to-go bus and rail projects remain unfunded.
The funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would enable our state to make up for lost time, but only if the political will exists to spend money where it is needed most. Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, this year's NGA chair, sent a message to all governors when he stated on national television that Pennsylvania "can have people working by May, because we're going to fix it first" and that he would focus on "deficient bridges" and "miles of roads to be resurfaced."
He's right about the benefits of fix-it-first over new highway construction. A recent study, using government data, found that construction projects that repair deteriorating roads and bridges can be started more quickly and would create 9% more jobs than new highway projects. The study also found that investment in public transportation creates about 19% more jobs than building new highways.
Doyle left the NGA meeting to visit Spain to learn more about the benefits of high-speed rail and the potential to put Wisconsin manufacturers back to work building high-speed trains here. We applaud the governor for this leadership. At the same time, the governor has proposed that roughly half of the first $300 million in Recovery Act transportation dollars be spent on new highway capacity. When roads and bridges are crumbling and our dependence on oil threatens our environment, economy and national security, we can't afford to make the same old decisions.
There's little doubt that building new and wider highways would create jobs. However, it also would increase our oil dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, vulnerability to gas price hikes and traffic congestion.
Repairing roads also saves everyone money immediately. According to economist Robert Frank: "One-hundred-and-twenty-dollars-a-year damage per year per vehicle. The potholes in the roads do more damage to vehicles each year than it would cost to fix them. That's just ridiculous that we don't fix them."
In other words, not all transportation investments are created equal. Using stimulus funds to expand public transit and repair existing roads and bridges not only would create more jobs in less time but also would give the state the best long-term return on the investment. When reductions in greenhouse gas pollution, commute times, traffic congestion, household expenses and energy use are added to the number of jobs created, spending on fix-it-first and public transit wins hands down.
A recent announcement from the Obama administration echoes these ideas and should empower our state officials to adopt a bolder vision. When the Recovery Act was signed last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican, who hardly can be characterized as an extremist, said, "We will emphasize sustainable investment and focus our policies on the people, businesses and communities who use the transportation systems. And we will focus on the quality of our environment. We will build and restore our transportation foundations until the American dream is returned."
The secretary's message and the recent NGA meeting pave the way for Doyle to use the new federal funding to help build a world-class, 21st-century transportation system in Wisconsin.
Bruce Speight is an advocate with the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, a statewide nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest advocacy organization.
Comments