"Just Because You Ignore It Doesn't Make It Go Away"

by: bloomingpol

Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 09:28:39 AM EST

Fifty-one miles of Interstate 95, the main north-south highway on the East Coast, make their way through southeastern Pennsylvania. Construction of the highway began more than a half-century ago, before Barack Obama was born. Rina Cutler, Philadelphia's deputy mayor for transportation and utilities, noted that long stretches of I-95 are now reaching the end of their useful life and will have to be rebuilt.

In a report titled "Just Because You Ignore It Doesn't Make It Go Away," Ms. Cutler wrote:

"These stretches require reconstruction that is conservatively estimated to cost $6 billion to $10 billion over the next two decades. This badly needed investment could be expected to support tens of thousands of jobs over that period. The Federal Highway Administration has estimated that every $1 billion of investment in the Federal Highway Aid program generates 42,100 full-time equivalent jobs."

In my town there are small earthen dams and larger ones that create ponds and lakes.  I particularly remember one, when I was selectman.  This pond was owned by the town.  It was taken for non-payment of taxes some time in the past.  However the dam, which carried the private road that served a little lakeside community, was not owned by the town, but by several individuals whose land abutted the dam.  The state had done a review of the dam (there is a department that deals with dams) and found that the pipe that drained the excess water was deteriorating and trees had been allowed to grow up along the road across the dam.  

The state told the town that they had to fix it.  The pipe was our responsibility.  And we had to figure out a way to get the trees cut, but we couldn't do it without the permission of the owners.   Or we would have to drain the pond.  

Raising money for the pipe involved town meeting and a warrant article.  Persuading the folks in the area to form an association to care for their access road, well, I don't think that ever happened.  The pipe was replaced.  The culverts and lots downstream probably won't flood if we have heavy rains for a while.  But if the trees grow up again, and their roots weaken the dam, and we have rainfall like we have recently, who knows?

This is a small example of the confluence of failing unmaintained infrastructure and climate change.  Should be interesting to watch this across the country.