Just like the Third World...everything goes to “public servants,” while the people live in places with sewage running in the gutters.
Governments are letting go of their police and roads, but keeping things like their schools and garbage collection, which can easily be privatized. Goverments have some problems prioritizing what they should really be doing.
I think there are still some farm to market road constructed of concrete in the 30’s that are in acceptable condition. Perhaps some real gov’t investment in “over engineered” pavement that will last >50 yr. is a good idea?
LaHood (Dept of Transportation Sec) says the government is going to give bicycling – and walking, too – the same importance as automobiles in transportation planning and the selection of projects for federal money. The former Republican congressman quietly announced the “sea change” in transportation policy last month.
“This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized,” he wrote in his government blog.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/bicycle-policy-ray-lahood_n_536791.html
I grew up on gravel roads in Michigan, and to be honest I kind of liked them. There was no dust at all, in fact the road I grew up on was so well packed and compressed with oil I could lay dark black rubber on it without trenching it was so hard.
They probably don’t coat them with anything anymore for “environmental” reasons, and then again back in the early eighties we were driving much bigger and heavier cars, so maybe the Festiva or Smart Car owners are the ones having all the problems.
The alleged rcovery act goes only to blue states.
And here is dumba** me thinking that the gas tax is meant to maintain the roads.
Look at the bright side. Going to be harder for the government types to get from Point A to Point B. Isolation has it’s advantages.
Our government is becoming dysfunctional and merely a devise for stealing money from the honest and productive members of society. Public service has become a euphemism for legalized theft.
"Ass" transit.
As in "your ass is GONNA use light rail and be forced out of your automobile and into the nearest mega-city by any means necessary".
Pay more and get less. It’s the American way when the government dominates.
You’ve got to love those “self-supporting” roads!
Way, way behind the times. Oklahoma let I-40 devolve into a gravel goat path over 20 years ago and has done little to nothing to repair it, especially in OKC and points east. There's a stretch of about 140 miles that has tank traps. Worst roads in the country, IMHO, and I've been to 49 states. Last time I went through there (Feb. 2010) I seriously considered sending ODOT a letter to ask them exactly what was their threshold for repaving.....
Good, then they can deal with the broken windshield claims instead.
Should the contractors, politicians and IDOT figure out a way to skim and split just as much tax money by merely maintaining a lower-maintenance level gravel road as they would by asphalting/re-asphalting it, Iowa can be back in the mud PDQ.
Mr. niteowl77
Second, I'll bet that of course money from gas taxes that could have paid for road repair and maintenance was siphoned off for other purposes, and on top of that, spending for social services probably went up as well.
Sounds like the next the local governments have figured people care about—like school bands and sports and library hours—so of course they’ve got to cut back on them in order to maximize their ridiculous union employee pension schemes.
...as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue. State money for local roads was cut in many places amid budget shortfalls.Alabama, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, et al.