A New York Times I-W35 Retrospective, and Digging Out of Our Infrastructure Hole?

The New York Times has a good video report on the I-W35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis and our ongoing need to invest in bridge infrastructure.

How the United States allowed some of its most precious assets to decay so badly may say something about both its character and its leadership. This is a nation ever in the thrall of innovation. We like to build new things. We’re not so crazy about the drudgery of keeping the old in decent shape. Most bridges are meant to last 50 years; those classified as structurally deficient are, on average, a good deal older than that. As for political leaders, spending time and money on essential maintenance holds scant sex appeal. How many elected officials are just dying to preside over a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new gusset plate? 

In the end, it all boils down to money. There’s not nearly enough. The Federal Highway Trust Fund, the principal financing source for transportation projects, is practically kiting checks. That’s how close it is to insolvency. Part of the problem is that it depends heavily on a federal tax on gasoline, which provides about $39 billion a year. That tax, 18.4 cents a gallon, has not changed since 1993. Because of inflation, it has lost 40 percent of its value over the years.

Obama recently proposed raising about 10 percent of what's needed through the the closure of a series of business tax loopholes.

As the nation’s economic struggles continue, Americans are driving less. Pumping less gas leads to reduced tax revenues. There is, too, an ironic twist in the national goal of improving vehicles’ fuel efficiency. The less gas a car needs, the smaller the yield from that tax. 

With all this as a backdrop, Mr. Obama has now turned to an altered business-tax structure as a way to raise his desired $302 billion. Even if he gets what he wants, the money is still far short of what the civil engineers society has said is needed to stop the infrastructure decay: $3.6 trillion.

Should we be charging toll on more bridges?  We travel free of charge across a lot of these old bridges that need retrofitting or replacement.  Installing tolls can provide a funding stream that opens the panoply of project financing options: traditional bond revenue financing, public private partnership financing, or supplementing general revenue tax financing.

There are lots of tools available to finance these projects ... we have no excuse to continue to procrastinate.