US Infrastructure // Current

A Modern-Day WPA Will Save the Economy. (. . . note to next president)

History shows us the time to act is now. (Works Progress Administration)
The candidates can talk all they want about putting money into alternative fuels, electric cars and high-speed rail, but none of that will mean much if our roads, bridges and rails can't support them. The next president must commit to fixing our infrastructure. Such an investment will create jobs, strengthen our economy and make America more competitive.

"Congress should invest in the more than 3000 ready-to-go highway projects that could be under contract within the next 90 days," says John Horsley, exec director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "Funding these ready to go projects offers Congress a tremendous opportunity to create jobs & help cash strapped states repair & replace our crumbling infrastructure."

One of every four bridges in the country is structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, & updating them will cost $140 bill, according to the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials. America's drinking water infrastructure is underfunded; the Congressional Budget Office says we must invest at least $11.6 bill over the next 20 yrs. Highway congestion costs us $78 bill annually through the 4.2 bill hours and 2.9 billion gallons of gasoline we waste each year, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. The list goes on.

Of the two candidates, Obama's said the most about the issue, but not much. At the bottom of the 6th page of his economic policy paper, he calls for the creation of a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank. It would "expand and enhance, not supplant, existing federal transportation investments." On the face of it, that means a new chunk of money would be allocated for infrastructure projects as opposed to simply shifting cash from other projects. Obama wants to deposit $60 bill into the bank over 5 years. That's far short of the $225 bill a bipartisan transportation policy commission recommends spending each year for the next 50 yrs, but it's a start. If Obama's numbers are to be trusted, the bank would create two mill jobs and generate $35 bill in economic activity each year.

As for McCain, he hasn't said much of anything. His record so far isn't good. Among other things, he's called for a national gas tax holiday, which would save people pennies at the pump but take money away from the already strained Highway Trust Fund, which finances construction projects. Three years ago, McCain voted against the Transportation Equity Act, which provided more than $286 bill for transportation infrastructure.

Clearly America needs to invest quickly and heavily in its failing infrastructure, and, ironically, now may well be the perfect time to do so. The spiraling economy has drawn comparisons to the Great Depression. While that may be extreme, there's no doubt we're in for tough times. A national infrastructure initiative could make things a little easier.

During the Depression, Pres Roosevelt put $11.4 bill (est $175 bill today) into the Works Progress Administration.
The agency spent nearly $4 bill on highway & road projects and more than $2 billion on public buildings and utilities. All told, the WPA put 8.5 million people to work between 1935 and 1943. Together those people built 651,087 miles of roadway, built or improved 124,031 bridges, erected 125,110 public buildings and laid 853 airport runways. Not bad at a time when the unemployment approached 25 percent.

Beyond providing jobs, analysts say every $1 billion spent on transportation projects creates 35,000 jobs, a modern day WPA would produce lasting benefits. "China is spending 9 percent of its GDP on infrastructure, and we're spending something like one or two percent," says Allen D. Biehler, Pennsylvania's transportation secretary. "A sustained investment would not only create jobs that have a strong multiplier effect on the larger economy, but would prevent us from falling behind other nations."
History shows us the time to act is now. (Works Progress Administration) The candidates can talk all they want about putting... more