Keep in mind that not all infrastructure projects make any economic sense but are designed and planned for purely political reason (i.e., to payoff constituents).
BTW, the best way to finance infrastructure is to link it to the economic benefits it creates. No economic benefit, no infrastructure project.
No bridges to nowhere.
BTW, the amount of spending on rails to trails is comparatively minuscule.
Your first sentence says it all. Absolutely Correct.
I know it is "comparatively miniscule", but we in this country need to make some hard choices, and we need to do it soon or we are done for.
Even though the amount is small, that is one of the major problems in this country...all the small things that have stakeholders who think their small thing is no big deal. Not everything is a billion dollars for a navy ship or $25 billion for a border wall.
$1.5 million federal funds to help fund gun range safety and range improvements nationally are a fine thing. A grant to study the Spotted Lugwort environment is only $300K. Allocated funds to facilitate recreation at ski slopes for underprivileged kids may be only $1.5 million nationwide. $99K to build a scenic overlook on a highway isn't much. $25 million for encouraging females to enter STEM programs is small potatoes. $10 million to help renovate a national park site isn't going to break the bank. (Note: I just made these up, but it is indisputable that there are expenditures just like these out there)
The problem we have is that tens or hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars are being allocated in small amounts across hundreds of thousands or millions of small interests. And as is often attributed as a Scottish phrase uttered famously by George Washington, "Many Mickles make a Muckle".
I have heard that if our enconomy (GDP) grew at 4% every single year for 20 years, we could get out of debt. But we are going in the completely opposite direction.
We need to begin making serious choices at all levels. It is going to hurt because people are used to the flow of cash at small levels all over for various things, but it is like a ship that has thousands of shrapnel holes in its hull. Any one of them won't sink the boat, but all of them will. We can eliminate waste in many areas of the government, military, entitlements, etc., but we are beyond the point where that is going to fix our massive debt problem. We also have to plug those shrapnel holes.
Rail Trails are something I see as a luxury.
Again, I love Rail Trails. I use them. I had experience trying to get one built, and I appreciate the efforts of those people who got it done. But they ARE luxuries.