D,

You should do a little digging on what is happening in Illinois with infastructure. Our State government is about to throw away billions that were allocated to the state for instructure improvements because of a little family tussle. Somewhat off topic and I apologize, but interesting none the less.

I do agree that our infastructure is crumbling, however I don't think that prvitizing will solve it. It is always a catch up game, just when you get everything up and running, you have to start over, because of population booms where it wasn't expected. It will always need to be done again and it will always be more expensive. Can they keep up, I guess is my question.

When we needed a better way to get from the Inland Empire to Orange County, a private company came in and built what is now called The Toll Roads a series of 4-6 lane roadway that connects to most of the major work centers in Irvine, Tustin, and South County.
In all honesty, I don't know how much public funding was involved, if any, and I don't know what the source of their funds were (ie, pension funds, etc). But it has helped out immensely, and they are privately maintained, to the best of my knowledge.

Well, straight from the website:

Two of the major highways through/around Kansas City have been under construction, nearly non-stop, since the early '60's. They knew exactly where the population was going to go for the most part (although they completely blew their prediction as it pertains to KCI) and have under-built both highways - repeatedly - ever since.

This is OT but somewhat related.

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"Police to receive new radios

By CHRISTINE VENDEL

The Kansas City Star

Kansas City police board members Tuesday approved spending $4.2
million of public safety sales tax money to buy new police radios.

The project was not originally part of the sales tax increase package that voters approved in 2002. Proceeds originally were earmarked for 10 police projects, nine of which involved building and renovating police facilities. The other was a shared computer dispatch system for city police, fire and emergency management agencies.

But police said Tuesday that the tax had brought in more money than anticipated and that they had no other way to pay for the much-needed radios. Deputy Chief Cy Ritter said city lawyers approved using sales tax proceeds since the radios "are considered infrastructure and are necessary."

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It's always funny how new projects become "necessary" when there's more tax revenue than expected. The voters approved taxes to pay for a number of very specific projects. If more money comes in than what was needed for those, why isn't there any discussion of reducing the tax? For those who believe no tax is too much, this is a perfect example of why not everyone agrees. This kind of thing happens all too often.

Usually, it is a combination of not on my watch and finance that makes it hard to do things ahead of necessity. Tulsa knew decades ago that they would have to expand certain area thoroughfares. They were not willing to spend the money early on because it would require eliminating funding for other projects, it would prevent developers from creating homes that bring in tax revenue, and it would be a potential election third rail. That is the political process affecting a lot of utilities.

An extreme example is lost bridge on Grand Lake. Before the lake was designed, a county commissioner wanted a connecting road to eliminate a problem with access to an area blocked by two rivers/streams. He decided to build the bridge and then get the funding for the road work. In the next election, he was defeated by an opponent who made a big production of a bridge that went nowhere. Naturally, his opponent did not complete the project and then the building of the lake, sealed its fate. Now it is a landmark on the lake. The bridge that has never been driven on in its entire 80 years.

Nation's bridges, roads still 'structurally deficient'

Group: Repairs would cost nearly $10 billion every year for the next 20 years
Transportation secretary: Federal approach to transportation is broken


By Randi Kaye and Katherine Wojtecki
CNN
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Mercedes Gorden remembers August 1, 2007, like it was yesterday.

"I remember everything. I remember it being sunny and hot. I had my window down," Gorden said. "The next thing I knew, the concrete started to wave in front of me."

It was a normal day. Or so she thought. She was driving home from work on the Interstate 35 West bridge that spans the Mississippi River when it started to buckle and collapse during the evening rush-hour traffic.

"The bridge pulled apart in front of me ... and I went sliding," Gorden said.

Without warning, cars careened into the Mississippi River below and Gorden's Ford Escort plummeted about 60 feet down into the river bank.

"I said I will not die on that bridge. I am not going to die today," Gorden, 31, said. "This is not the way I am going to go."

She was trapped for more than an hour and rescue workers had to cut her out of the car. All of the bones in her legs were shattered and her spine was fractured. Nine surgeries and countless hours of physical therapy later, she knows it could have been worse. Thirteen people died that day and 100 others were injured.

One year after the tragedy, many Minnesotans and commuters around the country wonder if their bridges and highways are safe. Watch: Are U.S. roads and bridges safe? »

The answer is: Maybe.

Across the United States, there are about 600,000 bridges. The Federal Highway Administration reported in 2006 that one quarter of the nation's bridges were at risk. The American Society for Civil Engineers said in 2006 that it would cost nearly $10 billion every year for the next two decades to fix them.

But the funds used to repair and maintain the country's bridges and highways are drying up. Some of the money comes from the Highway Trust Fund, which Americans pay for through taxes on gasoline. Faced with higher gas prices, more commuters are carpooling, taking mass transit or driving less, about 4 percent less in May alone compared with a year ago. Interactive: Check troubled bridges in your state »

The federal Department of Transportation predicted taxes will fall far short of what's needed for improvement projects -- leaving many projects delayed or even canceled.

Ryan Toohey, a lead strategist with America Moving Forward, a group that lobbies for private investment to fix the nation's infrastructure problems, said nearly every state is facing a budget crisis and doesn't have the money to solve problems.

"When I hear that many states have close to a majority of their bridges deemed obsolete or structurally deficient, that scares me and I think that finding ways to help remedy those problems that simultaneously relieve states of the burden financially is very, very important and should be a welcome trend in the United States," Toohey said.

The Bush administration projected that at some point in the next fiscal year, after October 1, 2008, the highway account will hit zero, down from $8 billion at the start of the fiscal year. Payments for repairs can't be made if the money isn't there.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said, "Without a doubt, our federal approach to transportation is broken" and "it is time for a new, a different and a better approach."

Peters said one short-term solution may be for the Highway Trust Fund to borrow from the Mass Transit Fund. But she said it wouldn't be easy to get congressional approval. The House has passed a resolution to inject $8 billion into the Trust Fund, but even if the Senate passed it, President Bush has threatened to veto the measure.

Some states, such as Minnesota, are trying to get creative in raising money for road projects.

"We are looking at mileage-based revenue structures where people could be taxed based on the miles they travel. We are looking at private sector investments," said Minnesota's Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel. The Minnesota legislature has passed a package of tax increases to raise $6.6 billion to improve the states' roads and bridges.

Even after the Minneapolis bridge collapse, not all the bridges in the state are structurally safe. In fact, on July 26, chunks of concrete weighing about 1,200 pounds fell from an overpass in St. Paul, just a few miles from the Minneapolis scene.

CNN has learned that bridge was rated "structurally deficient" 23 years ago, in 1985, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation confirmed it was rated "structurally deficient" again in 2007, just days after the Minneapolis bridge collapsed.

Still, the state said it was safe to drive on. Nobody was hurt in the St. Paul bridge incident, but critics like Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Democrat from Minnesota, are demanding action.

"You would have thought the state learned its lesson and done a better job of inspecting the bridges and overpasses, yet this was one they failed to accurately assess ... It was like a meteor falling to the ground," said Oberstar, who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Sorel said bridges now are supposed to be shut immediately if there is any risk. His department has inspected 1 in 5 of the more than 20,000 bridges across the state and closed at least six. The state also said it has spent $390 million on repairing and replacing its bridges since 2003.

Is that enough?

Not for victims like Gorden, who drives by the site of the collapse every week on her way to physical therapy. She wonders how sales taxes can be found to subsidize a new baseball stadium in Minneapolis -- but not for bridges.

"I say how did we get money for stadiums? How did we get money for all these new stadiums we're building?" Gorden said. "What's more important: baseball or safe traveling? Should we all be afraid every time we cross a bridge now?"

All rhetoric aside, the problem is that we have a need that is financed by a source that is not working. The revenue from gasoline taxes is not growing at a pace to keep up with demand. And with the high price of gasoline, we are drving less and using vehicles that consume less. What is ridiculous is that the actual tax on gasoline is a declining tax. By that, I mean we are probably paying the same tax as when I was a kid and could buy gasoline for $0.25/gallon. If they had priced it per price instead of per gallon, we would be paying a lot more for gasoline, but the revenue would keep up with inflation.

Maybe the solution is to charge every illegal alien a $100 fee per crossing.

Imagine the outcry from the right about THOSE taxes. I agree, that is how it should have been set up....it would have pushed energy efficiency instead of rolling chucks of mass through the critical years were everyone just sat on their butts. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Didn't happen, so what do you do now?

I got a brilliant idea. Take OUR money that is being spent IN Iraq for the benefit of OTHERS and instead invested in OUR future, OUR infrastructure!

Oh I forgot, we can't use national security fear mongering with that approach. Dam.

The "private" developer and operator of the State Owned Toll Road sold it to TCA OCTA at a profit about 4 or 5 years ago. Sweet deal for them, raw deal for tax-payers and toll payers as the toll is now $10 on a Friday afternoon, one way, 10 miles. When you get to the end of it it is still a nightmare from the Orange County Line to at least I15 in Corona.

I think that the link above should be to 91expresslanes.

Let it also be known that when it was owned and operated by the private owner it was always on the public right of way and the contract signed in Sacramento let them dictate that CalTrans could not do the improvements to SR 91. It was not until after OCTA bought it that that provision was released. Only when in the control of a government agency could needed improvements be made to the adjacent public road. That center divider was and is publicly owned.