You use them every day but probably don’t think much about them, except maybe if they are crumbling beneath you. Now, repairing them and building new ones, or new versions of them, may help save the economy. At least according to Democrats.
We’re talking about roads, such as the Interstate Highway System, created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, which was about the last time any major funding went toward the system.
But we’re also talking about U.S. infrastructure in general—roads, bridges, the electrical grid, the water system—all the things that support what we do or need every day, many of which are deteriorating or could benefit from new technology.
The idea that we as a nation need to invest in infrastructure is getting a lot of buzz lately, especially as Democrats and Barack Obama tout the need for another stimulus package to kick-start our sputtering economy.
The infrastructure is crumbling... and dated
Remember the bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed last year, killing 13 people? That bridge was built in 1967 and there were warnings in 1990 that its stability was compromised. The Federal Highway Administration recently told The News Hour there are about 70,000 bridges across the country in need of repair while another article says one in four are "structurally deficient or functionally obsolete."
Indeed many of the roads, bridges and buildings in the United States date back even farther to the 1930s and the New Deal, when Franklin D. Roosevelt created programs like the Work Progress Administration to help lift the nation out of the Great Depression.
The WPA built 600,000 miles of roads, over 100,000 bridges and buildings and thousands of parks. LaGuardia Airport in New York and the U.S. presidential retreat, Camp David, are both WPA projects still standing. Interestingly—a side note here—Fannie Mae, social security and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), all hot topics on the campaign trail this year, all began under the New Deal. (Read our explanation of Fannie Mae.)
Why is infrastructure a big deal right now?
In part this is a hot topic because the economy is in dire straits and some say investment in infrastructure that creates jobs and provides a needed service could be just the boost the economy needs. Two weeks ago Democrats called for a new stimulus plan that could cost $150 billion, with an emphasis on putting money to work in infrastructure projects. And Obama has called for creating new jobs (and green jobs) in this arena as part of his overall economic stimulus program.
The big picture
A second stimulus plan has some hurdles, namely Republicans who don’t want to spend more money. But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke backed the idea this week, saying a stimulus package would be good for the economy but thought a works program might be slow to kick off.
Estimates say it could take $1.6 trillion to shore up infrastructure. And a good plan won’t just fix what we have, it will catapult us forward toward a system that respects our natural resources and moves us away from traditional, fossil fuel-burning forms of transportation. Let’s hear it for high-speed trains!
