Background Information

ROCKY ROADS AND RICKETY BRIDGES

In its latest report on America's infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers rated our roads a "D" grade and our bridges a "C." It's no wonder. One in four bridges nationwide is in bad shape and in need of repair, and one in six miles of interstate are in bad condition and need attention. Click here to see how your state's roads and bridges fare.

All of those rocky roads and rickety bridges create major safety problems for American families and commuters. According to the Federal Highway Administration, outdated and substandard road and bridge design, pavement conditions, and safety features are factors in 30% of all fatal highway accidents. Non-fatal accidents are also more common, and when any accident occurs, more hazardous road conditions and traffic congestion are created.

American families are paying the price for bad roads and bridges in other ways. Driving on roads in need of repair costs U.S. motorists $54 billion per year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs--$275 per motorist.

PORK WINS, WHILE POTHOLES WAIT

Right now Congress is setting its transportation priorities for the next six years. But instead of fixing what we have, Congress is expected to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on expensive pork projects we don't need.

The poster children for these misplaced priorities are two "bridges to nowhere" in Alaska being promoted by Congressman Don Young (R-AK), who chairs the House Transportation Committee. The proposed mile-long Gravina Island Bridge would connect Ketchikan, an area with a population of 7,800, to an island of 50 residents. This bridge would come only twenty feet short of the length of the Golden Gate Bridge and would be 80 feet higher than the Brooklyn Bridge. Currently, a reliable ferry serves the island and runs about every 10 minutes. The House of Representatives has already earmarked $175 million for this $315 million project.

Another project, the proposed Knik Arm Bridge, would be more than 2.5 miles long, and would connect Anchorage to land that almost no one lives on. Traffic engineers have never been able to justify this project. But the House of Representatives has other ideas and already budgeted $200 million for this project that will eventually cost an astounding $2.3 billion.

Meanwhile, there are literally hundreds of thousands of roads and bridges that aren't getting the attention they deserve, and families and commuters are paying the price.

FIX WHAT WE HAVE FIRST

We need to put some common sense in our transportation policy by fixing existing roads and bridges that hundreds of millions of Americans already use before wasting tax dollars on "bridges to nowhere" or other pork projects we don't need.

Even though the House of Representatives has already made its move, the Senate and President Bush should make it clear that with soaring national deficits, any transportation bill that includes such massive and unnecessary pork projects like the Gravina and Knik Arm Bridges will not be tolerated. Even better, they should allocate the money from those pork projects to repair America's most dangerous roads and bridges.