Phillytraffic Blog by GVF

There has been a shift in the political mood and direction of both the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States as a whole. The mid-term elections of 2010 have shaken up the political landscape, mostly centered on the spending of our state and federal government. Whether you agree or disagree on the issue of spending, the next budget cycle will be filled with debate as legislators decide which programs to fund and which programs to cut. Infrastructure, the backbone of our economy and the essential network that facilitates the American way of life will certainly enter into the debate.

Infrastructure is an extremely costly, yet high value investment. Regions with a good network of roadways, transit lines, railroads, sewers and water delivery systems are able to attract industry, provide a higher quality of life and retain workers. A large part of what drove the growth of our economy, and defined the American way of life was our vast and extensive interstate highway system. When it was first conceived in 1956, it generated the feeling of freedom; freedom to go anywhere, do anything, see everything. Fifty years later, our infrastructure is becoming a significant obstacle to progress as age, deferred maintenance and over use have finally caught up.

Pennsylvania is a national leader when it comes to highways. With over 253,000 lane miles of road, (lane miles represents actual amount of paved surface. One mile of a two lane road is equal to two lane miles) Pennsylvania has more lane miles than Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia combined. We also have more lane miles than New York. Needless to say, owning that many lane miles is a huge responsibility, and a huge expense. The American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that 50% of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, 44% of our major roads are in poor quality, and 34% of our urban highways are congested. All that leads to a $3 Billion backlog in projects to bring our system to good standing. Sometimes being a leader is curse.

The needs of Pennsylvania’s infrastructure transcend election politics. A structurally deficient bridge has no party affiliation; it simply needs to be fixed. The challenge is deciding how we will pay to fix our bridges. There are many good ideas that address the financial obligation we have to our infrastructure; however there is no single solution. Properly addressing our infrastructure funding needs will require our politicians to make difficult decisions but it will also require the voters and taxpayers to support their decisions. Some concepts being considered include raising the gas tax (which is the primary way our roads are paid for), tolling high volume highways to generate new revenue, privatizing roadways to shift the burden from the state to a private owner, and investing in transit and railroads to remove cars and trucks from the roads. Each of these options can work, however none of them can work independently, they must be part of a comprehensive transportation funding reform.

As Pennsylvania moves forward after this election with fresh faces in Harrisburg, it is crucial that the importance of infrastructure is not lost in political debate. Our elected officials must now provide the leadership they asked to be given, and show the residents of this state that Pennsylvania can also be a national leader in infrastructure funding reform. Backing away from this discussion now will only continue to hurt prosperity and increase the amount we all have to pay to fix this problem.