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Rotten Roads Ahead: U.S. Infrastructure Is Falling Apart
The Truth About Cars ^ | 2-13-2013 | Bertel Schmitt

Posted on 02/13/2013 8:16:30 PM PST by ExxonPatrolUs

The U.S. transportation system is in danger of falling apart, and will take down the economy with it, Bill Shuster, chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation Committee, said today while Reuters was keeping notes:

“If we don’t deal with this issue at some point, as I said, we will reach a tipping point and the transportation system may not recover and we will fall behind the rest of the world.”

According to Shuster, the U.S. transportation system has already “gone from being one of the top three, four (or) five systems in the world to now we’re 23 or 24, so we need to act.”

A recent study from the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated the United States needs to spend $2.75 trillion to maintain and improve its infrastructure by 2020.

The ASCE gave America’s roads a D-

(Excerpt) Read more at thetruthaboutcars.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: transportation
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Shovel Ready Jobs!
1 posted on 02/13/2013 8:16:39 PM PST by ExxonPatrolUs
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

Is this guy at all related to the Bud Schuster highway around Everett, PA?


2 posted on 02/13/2013 8:19:00 PM PST by Paladin2
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

There is plenty of money for roads if they’d quit blowing it on other crap like high speed rail, bike paths and hiking trails. It wouldn’t hurt to let public transportation riders pay their own way too.


3 posted on 02/13/2013 8:19:35 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

When the Military is decimated and the Gov has taken all our guns, we may get a new foreign overlord that has us building new roads for free!

Ahh.. I can see the tree lined streets now.


4 posted on 02/13/2013 8:20:45 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs
I wonder if the $5 billion for 20 miles of Hawaii railroad has anything to do with not having enough to fill potholes.
5 posted on 02/13/2013 8:25:30 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Choose one: the yellow and black flag of the Tea Party or the white flag of the Republican Party.)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

$255 million per mile for railroad.... all that’s going into some cronies pockets.


6 posted on 02/13/2013 8:25:33 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

$2.75 trillion

Pfft...simply print three of these, fix all the damn roads and bridges once and for all, and have enough left over to buy everybody an EV. The best thing about my plan is that scumbag politicians will quit yammering about our crappy "infrastructure" for a couple of years.


7 posted on 02/13/2013 8:45:23 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

Fake crisis.


8 posted on 02/13/2013 8:46:12 PM PST by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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To: cripplecreek

What’s really galling is we supposedly paid for all this repair four years ago.


9 posted on 02/13/2013 8:54:23 PM PST by Cyber Liberty (Obama considers the Third World morally superior to the United States.)
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To: cripplecreek

In Washington state cities have a very limited way to collect taxes that can be solely dedicated for road construction as that is considered a general fund expense and competes against police, fire, parks & recreation, and whatever arts/ social ograms they can dream up for finding. So they have use their local funds to match federal dollar grants. This is why they have to include all the other forms of transportation in simple road project.

Then factor in all the federal requirements for environmental/cultural/archeological, and Davis-Bacon wage requirements and that is why it takes at least $1,000,0000 + per mile to build what started out as simple road.


10 posted on 02/13/2013 8:59:07 PM PST by shotgun
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

Let’s see...the Gov’t builds new train lines in a seemingly random manner. All the while, allowing the common public road access to deteriorate by lack of maintenance. Then slowly close access to federal and state parklands. Hmmm...shovel ready projects? Perhaps.


11 posted on 02/13/2013 9:03:52 PM PST by RedHeeler
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

Here in NY, the cry of “crumbling infrastructure” is heard when the Gov’t and its union supporters need another bailout.


12 posted on 02/13/2013 9:07:16 PM PST by PGR88
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

unions ho!

how much money gets shuned back into political coffers and union pensions...


13 posted on 02/13/2013 9:34:44 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: cripplecreek

yeah but you know why they are doung that, they/are wasting money on useless crap to allow’existing road infrastructure to go to hell. then they won’t fix all of it and let certain roads go away, per agenda 21 goals.


14 posted on 02/13/2013 9:36:34 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: shotgun

Oregon has Washington beat (well, actually, it’s a WA/OR joint effort)....yaknow that Tacoma Narrows bridge? It was built for under $900 million sometime back...now they want to build a bridge over the Columbia for $3+ BILLION


15 posted on 02/13/2013 10:08:21 PM PST by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: shotgun

Oregon has Washington beat (well, actually, it’s a WA/OR joint effort)....yaknow that Tacoma Narrows bridge? It was built for under $900 million sometime back...now they want to build a bridge over the Columbia for $3+ BILLION (much smaller bridge)


16 posted on 02/13/2013 10:08:48 PM PST by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

237 years. It was a good run. I’m blessed to have grown up in AMERICA.


17 posted on 02/13/2013 10:27:40 PM PST by Terry Mross (How long before America is gone?)
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To: Secret Agent Man

Here’s one factoid about that: One of Obama’s first acts as President in early 2009 was to put about 280 billion dollars of an 800 billion dollar fund designated for “stimulus” into state public union pension funds. I’d be surprised if he found something better to do with rest of that money.


18 posted on 02/14/2013 12:00:04 AM PST by haroldeveryman
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To: cripplecreek
well, we need another crisis to legislate about....

another excuse to raise taxes JUST for the roads...right...

I think we just do chip sealing or whatever...putting gravel down with the tiniest amt of asphalt and letting the cars beat it in....

19 posted on 02/14/2013 12:41:39 AM PST by cherry
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To: shotgun

In next door Idaho some cities have discover that taking federal money costs more than just building the roads with just city money. So they are now opting out.


20 posted on 02/14/2013 2:23:01 AM PST by D Rider
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