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Bridges to the Future: Real Economic Stimulus
Burlington Free Press, March 27, 2008

Vermont's roads and bridges are crumbling.  Over one-third of our state's more than 2,700 bridges are deemed by federal standards to be either “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete”, or both. On a national scale this rating earns Vermont the dubious distinction of being among the ten worst states in the nation for our proportion of deficient bridges.

Our roads are not much better. A quarter of our roads are now rated by the state as being in very poor condition. If we merely continue with current funding levels, the state projects that nearly half of our roads will be rated in very poor condition in three years. 

I have seen our aging infrastructure up close, and I am left with unsettling images. The House Transportation Committee, on which I serve, has been touring regions of the state to learn, first hand, about how our state transportation infrastructure is addressing the needs of Vermonters. Prompted by the tragic bridge collapse in Minnesota, we have inspected deficient bridges from Caledonia, Chittenden, Rutland and Washington Counties. Everywhere we have visited, the stories we have heard have been sobering.

Simply put, our current approach to solving these problems is failing to meet our needs.  The Douglas administration has adopted a reactive strategy of responding to short-term needs to get by from year to year. The focus on preventative maintenance in the so-called “Road to Affordability” is critical. But to me this plan seems more like a “Road to Avoidability”, where we are putting off until tomorrow the challenges that must be tackled today.  And the policy to delay fixing our transportation problems is not affordable, because it will cost all Vermonters more money in the long run.

A large culvert on Interstate 89 in Chittenden County is a perfect case in point. If we had invested in fixing this culvert on time it was projected to cost $250,000. Unfortunately, due to delays, the situation worsened and the job turned into a $2.7 million problem that we are squeezing out of this year’s budget – forcing us to forego other critical needs.

Rather than avoiding our state's problems and passing our challenges onto future generations, we must confront them today.  I believe we should invest in Vermont's future – and our economy – by bonding to meet our transportation needs. I have initiated legislation to support a significant bonding package to fix our structurally deficient bridges. Over 70 legislators, representing all political parties and all regions of the state, have co-sponsored this bill.

Borrowing money to fix our transportation problems now, rather than waiting for our roads and bridges to further decay, is a smart investment and will ensure we don't have an even more costly problem in a few years.  Construction cost inflation has risen18 and 20 percent over the past two years. That means that putting off our transportation crisis not only results in bigger problems with our roads and bridges, but the cost of fixing those problems inflates as well.

Interest payments on bonds, on the other hand, are only 6 percent.  We can invest at a lower rate for our bridges today and save taxpayers money tomorrow.

This proposal does more than save us money in the long run.  In a time of increasing economic uncertainty, getting back to the basics and investing in our infrastructure is a strategy of real economic stimulus.  Fixing our roads and bridges will create good paying jobs, pump money into local economies and ensure that Vermont's products get to their markets, rather than being detoured.

The time to meet our transportation challenges is now.  If we act, we can build bridges to our future so the next generation does not reel from obligations we refused to meet.  If we act now, we can create opportunities for businesses to grow right here in Vermont, rather than somewhere else.  If we act now and confront our challenges, we will pay our bills, and get our economy­—and our vehicles--back on a safe and sustainable road to the future.

Sue Minter, a State Representative from Waterbury, is a member of the House Transportation Committee

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