By Dow Constantine Route Fifty
In the third of a multi-part guest article series for Route Fifty, King County (Wash.) Executive Dow Constantine examines a complex issue many public officials around the United States are facing in their communities: infrastructure.
Introduction: Investing in Infrastructure
The prospects of each generation rely on the creation, preservation and expansion of infrastructure by the generation before—the built infrastructure, to be sure. But also, more broadly, natural infrastructure and human infrastructure. Only by investing in each of these indispensable, interlocking public goods will we create the opportunity for continued prosperity.
Here, though, I will focus on our built infrastructure—projects such as the Erie Canal and interstate highway system, both examples cited by financier Felix Rohatyn in stressing the importance and tradition of investing public revenue in improvements that increase the future well-being of our nation.
In his 2011 book, “Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now” Rohatyn spells out some of our specific and pressing infrastructure needs:
Three-quarters of the country’s public school buildings are outdated and inadequate. More than a quarter of the nation’s bridges are obsolete or deficient. It will take $11 billion annually to replace aging drinking water facilities. Half the locks on more than 12,000 miles of inland waterways are functionally obsolete.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, it would take an investment of more than $2 trillion to get all of America’s infrastructure into workable condition.
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