All posts from the month of September 2011
T4′s Andrea Kiepe writes about reaction to Minneapolis bridge collapse, potential for making repair a priority
September 30, 2011By Sean Barry
T4 America’s Minnesota Field Organizer Andrea Kiepe penned a moving piece for the Infrastructurist this week about how the tragic Minneapolis bridge collapse four years motivates her work for transportation reform and investment today. It’s a timely subject too, given the recent decision by the governors of Kentucky and Indiana to shut down the Sherman Minton Bridge near Louisville for repairs.
“Thank God they closed it,” Andrea described as her initial reaction, adding: “How many more collapses and close calls before this country gets serious about keeping up with our infrastructure?”
That’s a question that motivates all of us at T4. We’ve seen the political climate change a lot during the last three years, but our nation’s infrastructure needs haven’t. Most in Washington seem to believe, in concept at least, that there are no Republican or Democratic bridges. The attentive response to the closure from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Tea Party favorite Rand Paul, both of Kentucky, corroborates this consensus.
Andrea writes of being moved by the words of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who said at the time of the collapse: “A bridge should just not fall down in the middle of America, not a bridge that is an eight-lane freeway, not a bridge I drive my 13-year-old daughter over every day.” Andrea continued:
That experience is one reason why, today, I am working to motivate people to get Congress to repair our nation’s bridges and other infrastructure, as an organizer for Transportation for America. The memory still brings tears to my eyes, and I want desperately to make sure people remember how much we have riding on our bridges, our trains and buses, and on our roads.
It’s tempting for politicians and everyday Americans alike to focus on the bridge in their community. But this is a national issue that requires bold nationwide action. Kentucky has more than 1,300 structurally deficient bridges, and Indiana has nearly 2,000. The average age of a U.S. is 42 years, and most were only built to last about 50 years. In other words, if you think the problem is bad now, just wait until 2020 or later.
Both President Obama’s American Jobs Act and a long-term transportation bill present an opportunity to get to work fixing our nation’s bridges, and we hope to see Congress act soon.
Whether the sense of shared responsibility over our nation’s infrastructure can translate into concrete action remains to be seen, but as Andrea put it: “we Americans can dream, can’t we?”
Photo courtesy of the Infrastructurist.
Today’s Headlines – 9/30/11
September 30, 2011By Transportation for America
House Republican have not yet specified where they intend to find additional revenue for a new transportation bill. (Reuters)
The federal government is funded through November, but a larger showdown over spending levels looms. (Streetsblog Capitol Hill)
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney voiced his support for privatizing Amtrak, calling the passenger rail system “unnecessary government spending.” (The Hill)
Michigan legislators voted to allow the state to bid for $2.8 million in federal funding for high-speed rail, a measure strongly supported by Republican Governor Rick Snyder. (AnnArbor.com)
And, the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted 10-6 to pursue a new headquarters in San Francisco. (Chronicle)
Today’s Headlines – 9/28/11
September 28, 2011By Transportation for America
Lobbyists for the cement, asphalt and other materials industries are pushing short-term infrastructure spending and a longer-term reauthorization. (Politico)
House Republicans’ decision to up transportation spending is a “cave to the Democrats,” argued a prominent conservative blog. (Red State)
Virginia and North Carolina will receive $48 million in federal funds for high-speed rail to Washington, DC. (AP)
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry could start getting more heat for his Trans-Texas Corridor plan back home. (Transportation Nation)
The Sherman Minton Bridge will receive a visit from Senator Dan Coats, whose state of Indiana relies heavily on the structure. (Journal Gazette)
And, Senator Mark Kirk, Republican of Illinois, touted his bill to leverage private dollars for infrastructure upgrades. (Courier-News)
T4 America commends House leaders for seeking additional $100 billion in funding for transportation bill
September 27, 2011By Transportation for America
WASHINGTON, DC — House Republican leaders, in consultation with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica, are actively seeking $100 billion in new revenue to fund reauthorization of the nation’s surface transportation bill. James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued the following statement in response:
“We applaud the decision by House Republican leaders to obtain $100 billion in additional revenue for the next transportation bill. Investing in our nation’s infrastructure will help create jobs, increase our long-term competitiveness and improve safety.
“Now, with a commitment to sufficient funding levels, we look forward to working with Chairman Mica on a new bill that puts Americans to work fixing our nation’s roads and bridges, while improving access to safe and reliable travel options and holding states accountable for every taxpayer dollar.”
Today’s Headlines – 9/27/11
September 27, 2011By Transportation for America
Senators leaders struck a bipartisan deal on disaster funding, averting a potential government shutdown next week. (Roll Call)
Obama administration officials are still hitting the road to drum up support for transportation investment. (Transportation Nation)
Delays on the Detroit bus system are making it more difficult for riders’ daily necessities. (Detroit Free Press)
The chief of Atlanta’s MARTA system told state legislators the agency faces $2.3 billion in unfunded maintenance needs. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
And, Senate transportation committee chairman Jay Rockefeller could face a rocky re-election in West Virginia in 2014. (The Hill)
Proposal to fix bridges by taking away safety money won’t solve the problem
September 26, 2011By Sean Barry
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) got a lot of media play for joining President Obama in Kentucky last week and unveiling his own plan to prioritize bridge repair by taking away a tiny amount of funding that helps improve safety for people walking or biking and redirecting it to bridge repair. But Senator Paul’s proposal is built on a series of false premises.
If you’ve seen recent stories on aging and deficient bridges — on NBC Nightly News, Chris Matthews’ Hardball or in countless newspaper reports — you heard echoes of our report flagging the urgent need to tend to our aging bridge infrastructure.
Senator Paul proposes that we take what he pegs (erroneously) as the “10 percent” we currently set aside for “turtle tunnels and squirrel sanctuaries and all this craziness” and divert it toward an emergency fund for urgent bridge repair.
Senator Paul’s math is way off. Paul – like Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn last week and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor the week before – is grossly misstating the size of the program being attacked, the so-called “transportation enhancements” program. This program amounts to 1.5 percent of the total federal outlay for transportation, not 10 percent. Not even close.
This program, created 20 years ago, is the main source of funds to create safer conditions for those bicycling or walking — often correcting past mistakes by making dangerous roads built with federal dollars safer for everyone. While a share has gone toward other uses, such as environmental mitigation, more than half of the meager 1.5 percent is spent on making people safer.
The backlog in needed bridge repair, covered in our national report, runs to the many billions of dollars in every state. Senator Paul’s proposal would do very little to actually fix our bridges while making people less safe.
Kentucky doesn’t have more than 1,300 deficient bridges today because they spent a few million dollars making their streets safer for people walking or biking. If Senator Paul’s proposal became law and the 1.5 percent was directed into bridge repair, it would take Paul’s home state of Kentucky nearly 66 years with those funds to repair of all its bridges that are currently rated as deficient. And that doesn’t even account for the bridges that would be added to the “deficient” list in the years to come. (Kentucky has more than 4,500 bridges over 50 years old. That number could double by 2030.)
Clearly, we need far more money to repair our bridges, but we lack policies that hold states accountable for fixing their bridges. The current federal program has money dedicated for bridge repair, but allows states to divert up to half of that funding to build other more politically-driven projects.
There are ways to address this problem. States like Florida have put in place fiscally responsible policies to take care of what they’ve already built, balancing the need to fix bridges and build new roads. And Florida’s bridges are among the best in the country. Florida has both spent their “enhancement” funds and ensured their bridges are in good shape. Why can’t Kentucky and other states say the same?
The necessary closure of the Sherman Minton Bridge brought long overdue attention to the condition of our nation’s bridges. But there is nothing stopping state transportation officials from making priorities and dedicating resources to the bridges posing the greatest risk. Kentucky has a particularly poor record on this front. Ten percent of the state’s bridges are structurally deficient. Kentucky received $390 million in transportation funding under the Recovery Act but failed to seize the opportunity to invest in repairing its crumbling infrastructure, spending only 26 percent of their federal dollars on maintaining their existing infrastructure, the fourth worst ratio in the country, according to Smart Growth America.
There are praiseworthy elements of Senator Paul’s plan. Creating and maintaining a database for emergency bridge repairs is a worthy idea. But we need better accountability for states to spend money in responsible ways to repair bridges and roads. We would welcome the Senator Paul’s support for the Preservation and Renewal of Federal-Aid Highways Act, sponsored by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin. The act would require the Secretary of Transportation to establish “state of good repair” standards for highways that receive federal funding, ensuring that precious tax dollars actually go toward the most pressing needs.
Updated: The League of American Bicyclists weighs in on the proposal.
Today’s Headlines – 9/26/11
September 26, 2011By Transportation for America
House chairman John Mica reportedly received permission from Republican leaders to seek additional revenue for his cuts-heavy transportation bill. (Streetsblog Capitol Hill)
The Sherman Minton Bridge remains closed and under inspection with no timeline for re-opening, according to Secretary Ray LaHood. (WDRB)
The deficit super committee is unlikely to adopt a proposal from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to include a job-creation score in its recommendations. (Plum Line)
Minnesota Senator Al Franken cited Transportation for America in lending his support of investing in infrastructure repair. (Austin Daily Herald)
Bicyclists in Orlando, Florida learn to make the best of a bad situation, with the metro areas continually ranked among the most dangerous for walking and biking. (WMFE)
And, at the local level, Providence is mapping out its streetcar plan, while Anchorage reassesses its citywide transportation plan. (Providence Journal, Anchorage Daily News)
Today’s Headlines – 9/23/11
September 23, 2011By Transportation for America
The Brent Spence Bridge visited by President Obama and other bridges like it require a new transportation bill to get their repairs funded. (National Journal)
The President’s address at the bridge, which connects Ohio and Kentucky, constituted an impassioned defense of infrastructure investment. (Transportation Nation)
AFSCME is launching a six-figure ad campaign in support of the President’s American Jobs Act, making the case that putting people to work today reduces the deficit. (Plum Line)
Congressional opponents of funding for safe biking and walking have consistently misrepresented funding levels for the current program. (NPR)
Speaker John Boehner downplayed the threat of a government shutdown as he rallied recalcitrant Republicans to support a continuing resolution. (WP)
And, West Virginia Representative Shelley Moore Capito introduced a bill to use domestic energy revenues to fund highways. (CBS 59)
Oklahoma mayor stands up for investing in infrastructure
September 22, 2011By Stephen Lee Davis
Oklahoma City mayor voices his support for the President’s efforts to bring the condition of U.S. infrastructure into the spotlight.
John Robert Smith, our T4 America co-chair and former Mayor of Meridian, Miss., is fond of saying that there are no Republican or Democrat potholes or bridges or roads. Fixing and updating our country’s transportation system is something that should have broad support, no matter what party is listed after a name. With nearly 12 percent of all U.S. bridges requiring replacement or repair, there’s plenty of work to be done in districts of all parties.
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, one of Mayor Smith’s former compatriots leading an American city, was in Washington, D.C. this week for a gathering of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and as it turned out, the lone Republican in the group. Perhaps this made him an obvious interview subject since the President’s American Jobs Act, which would invest billions in infrastructure, has been largely panned by Republicans for the most part in Congress.
Despite that, Mayor Cornett is supportive of the President’s efforts to raise the profile of infrastructure investment and the fact that the American Jobs Act would invest billions in our transportation system. He gave an enlightening interview on NPR’s Morning Edition this week.
GREENE: You’re going to face some heat when you go home after a visit like this to the White House?
CORNETT: Always do. And, you know, and some of it gets misconstrued. You know, some people will hear what I said at the steps of the White House and say that I endorsed the president’s plan, which I didn’t do. I think there are some elements of it that are good. And I probably disagree greatly on how we’re going to pay for it. I don’t necessarily think we ought to be raising taxes to do it. But if the president’s going to draw some attention to infrastructure, then I want to be there for him, because that voice doesn’t get spoken loudly enough. And although Oklahoma City doesn’t have the infrastructure needs of a lot of cities, if I can be a voice for these large eastern cities that have this deferred maintenance, then I’m going to do so because I think the future of our country relies on it.
For all the political posturing over the President’s $47 billion plan or the House draft transportation bill that would cut transportation spending by 35 percent, when you get down on the ground in our cities and communities, people know that spending money on our infrastructure and transportation system is a good idea. It creates jobs, boosts local economies, and makes us safer as deficient bridges are repaired or replaced.
As an aside, the mayor does suggest that he’s standing up for “large eastern cities,” but crumbling bridges unfortunately aren’t a problem limited to one region of the country or one type of city. Oklahoma is actually third worst in our ranking of states by percentage of deficient bridges and in fact, there are more midwestern states in the top 10 than there are states east of the Mississippi River.
President Obama’s Ohio visit again highlights the vast and growing need to address America’s aging and deficient bridges
September 22, 2011By Transportation for America
On the same day the President visits a critical bridge in Cincinnati, these state and county level data and an interactive map of structurally deficient bridges across the U.S. shows that bridge repair needs touch every community.
President Obama’s visit to the Brent Spence Bridge bordering Ohio and Kentucky calls much-needed attention to the urgency of bridge repair and rehabilitation throughout the country. Those needs are clearly visible in the detailed state-by-state reports, and county level bridge data (including an interactive, searchable map of every deficient bridge in America) being made available today at http://t4america.org/resources/bridges/states/.
The President’s event comes on the heels of last week’s closure of the 49-year old Sherman Minton Bridge over the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and New Albany, Indiana after cracks were found in the support structure. Like similar bridges nationwide, the heavily travelled bridge is crucial to the economy of both states and for commuters crossing the river to get to work.
Today, nearly 70,000 bridges nationwide— about one in nine —are classified as “structurally deficient,” in need of close monitoring and near-term repair, according to data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Transportation agencies would need $70.9 billion to overcome the current backlog of deficient bridges.
“As the President has noted, a serious effort to address the backlog of structurally deficient bridges would be an immediate source of jobs, doing work that desperately needs to be done,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “Our coalition members, in nearly every state of the union, have long noted this situation, and are gratified to hear the call echoed by high-profile leaders.”
Transportation for America’s spring report, “The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Bridges” tallied the structurally deficient bridges nationwide. T4 America is also making available county-by-county lists of structurally deficient bridges, and their rankings, for those who would like to evaluate the depth of their own local needs.
In addition to funding needed maintenance today, T4 America urges Congress to also enact tough guidelines in the next transportation bill to ensure that precious taxpayer dollars prioritize making existing bridges safe. One logical step forward would be Senator Ben Cardin’s Preservation and Renewal of Federal-Aid Highways Act, which would require the Secretary of Transportation to establish “state of good repair” standards for highways and bridges that receive federal funding, ensuring that federal dollars are targeted toward the most pressing needs first and holding states accountable for improving the condition of their infrastructure.
“Congress has a dual task right now of giving a weak economy a needed boost while creating the conditions for future growth and economic opportunity,” Corless added. “Providing a near-term boost to rebuild infrastructure, coupled with a comprehensive update of the long-term federal transportation bill will put people to work building the physical assets that will serve the country for decades to come. We appreciate the President’s focus on infrastructure and look forward to working with both the administration and Congress on getting something done.”
You can learn more about “The Fix We’re in For: The State of Our Nation’s Bridges” at http://t4america.org/resources/bridges/
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- The more they see, the less they like: 10 reasons why opposition to the House transportation bill is growing
February 21, 2012 - Crucial amendment could improve Senate bill, restore local control and help make streets safer
February 14, 2012 - Oppose House bill that slashes public transit funding, falls short on repair and axes bike & pedestrian safety
February 7, 2012 - T4 coalition announces opposition to House energy and transportation bill
February 6, 2012 - House committee ignores broad opposition, decimates transit funding anyway
February 3, 2012
- The more they see, the less they like: 10 reasons why opposition to the House transportation bill is growing
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