Sunday, February 22, 2004

Is the infrastructure crumbling?

Ralph Nader talked about the poor state of America's infrastructure on Meet the Press this morning. In an earlier post, I discussed the need for upgrading our nation's water infrastructure. Am I alone is also noticing that our roads seem to be in worse shape, too?

Construction projects have always taken a long time - when I was a kid, the Southeast Expressway in Boston was perpetually under construction. But working here in suburban NY - one of the most affluent areas in the country - I am struck by how ridiculously long roadwork can take and how limited funding forces some projects to be mothballed in the middle of the construction so that resoruces can be diverted to another project. More recently, I have been disgusted and shocked by the state of some local highways - most noticably the Saw Mill and Taconic Parkways. The potholes I encounter every day are deeper and more numerous than I can ever remember. And it would seem to be worse than can be reasonably expected even with a tough winter. I lived in Moscow for two years during the collapse of communism, and their roads were never as bad as these roads are.

What's going on?

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