How many bridges in your county are evaluated thusly: "Basically intolerable requiring high priority of replacement"?
We have lots. If you're curious, you can go to National Bridges and enter your location's data into the appropriate fields to learn whether your commute traverses any bridges which are about to fall down. Wouldn't that be useful information?
Wouldn't it make sense for the federal government to borrow lots of money via, say, capital improvement bonds and use that money to fund repairs of all 149,647 American bridges rated "structurally deficient"? Particularly when the current interest rate on government bonds is somewhere south of 3%?
I think so. So does Fred Clark. So do a whole lot of economists.
So why are we not doing this?
Posted by Linkmeister at August 24, 2010 01:51 PM | TrackBackBecause it would be "SOCIALIST" to have workable roads. Or something.
Posted by: hedera at August 24, 2010 07:22 PMOur main South-bound bridge has been closed until November as its support pilings are rotten, or nearly so. It means the occasional traffic jam as cars are detoured. But I'm all for safe bridges and no one getting harmed in a bridge collapse.
Posted by: SeattleDan at August 25, 2010 09:25 AM