Here in Massachusetts, there are many concrete highway overpasses dating from the 1920s. For years, I was nervous about driving under them. People thought I was crazy. About five years ago the highway department began putting nets under them. Some chunks must have fallen out.
You don't want to hit any size of concrete chunk while driving at 55 mph.
I'm amazed that they are still building new overpasses with concrete, like the giant ones on Rte. 84 near Hartford, CT.
As I see it there are 3 primary problems with our infrastructure funding.
1st is the fact that roadbuilding has always been a source of corruption through things like kickbacks and shoddy construction that’s deliberately overlooked.
2nd is the amount of transportation money that’s siphoned off to pay for other things. I’ve read that some 30% is skimmed off the top before we even get to the money that’s earmarked for “Alternative transportation”. Then there’s public transportation that is considered successful if taxpayers only pick up 75% of the tab. For instance, the people mover in Detroit is rider funded at a rate of 7% with the taxpayers picking up the other 93% of the tab.
And 3rd is the truly insane crap like paying for sensors in San Fransisco parking lots so people with a phone app can find empty parking spaces. I believe Seattle got some of that action too. In Ann Arbor and many other cities we pay for free charging stations that primarily cater to upper middle class people who should be buying their own electricity. 4 or 5 years back, Karl Levin was seeking some $4 million in transportation funds to save what was left of the old Tiger stadium in Detroit. His justification for using transportation funds was that a bus stop would be included.