The tri-state area is loaded with bridges, rail systems and roadways that are suffering from years of under-investment. But perhaps the biggest risk we face is with the rail tunnel linking New Jersey and New York. Built more than a century ago, the fraying tubes that carry NJ Transit and Amtrak trains are the biggest chokepoint in the Northeast, and the source of frequent delays for commuters. For years, the tunnels have needed extended repairs that are impossible to do while keeping trains running. The situation deteriorated when the tunnels flooded with salt water during Hurricane Sandy. Amtrak officials say the tubes might not last 20 years.
View this complete post...Archive for the ‘Aging Infrastructure’ Category
Tunnel Trouble: Crumbling Infrastructure Is Putting the NYC Metro Region at Risk
Tuesday, November 10th, 2015Seattle, WA: The Big Road Fix
Monday, November 9th, 2015After an earthquake revealed its instability in 2008, the state of Washington announced it was going to tear down a crumbling double-decker stretch of freeway known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct. After a heated debate, the state decided to use a giant drill named “Bertha” to deep-bore underground tunnel to replace it. Seven years later, the Viaduct is still up, Bertha is stuck underground, and the city’s residents have been left to wonder whether this major project will ever be worth the time and money spent on it.
View this complete post...NYC: BALCONY Gateway Breakfast Forum, November 13th
Thursday, November 5th, 2015BALCONY (the Business And Labor Coalition Of New York) is hosting a breakfast forum in honor of the Gateway Project, a proposal for rail-based infrastructure improvements in the New York metro area. The BALCONY Gateway Breakfast Forum will take place on November 13th, 2015, in the ballroom of 4 West 43rd St.
View this complete post...Lights Out? Storm Surge, Blackouts, and How Clean Energy Can Help
Monday, November 2nd, 2015UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
To maintain our present and future access to reliable electricity—and all the health, safety, and economic benefits such access allows—we must prepare our electric grid for increased coastal flooding. One necessary approach is adapting electricity infrastructure. However, it is also critical to simultaneously pursue solutions that go beyond intervening with specific pieces of equipment. For that, we can look to bolstering the overall electricity resilience of critical facilities and vulnerable populations.
Oregon DOT: Rehabilitating the Historic Siskiyou Rail
Monday, November 2nd, 2015How a 65 mile section of the historic and rugged Siskiyou rail line in southern Oregon and northern California was opened using a mix of public and private funds, including $7 million in federal TIGER funds. Rail construction reopened the line that had been closed since 2008.
View this complete post...Beyond Repair? America’s Infrastructure Crisis Is Local
Friday, October 30th, 2015MANHATTAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH
While states own a large portion of highly traveled roads, such as interstate highways, local governments are responsible for the majority of roadway mileage. Counties and municipalities, including minor civil divisions such as townships, are responsible for 3.1 million miles of roads and streets. Only 430,000 miles (14 percent) of these are part of the federal aid system. The remaining 2.7 million (86 percent) are nonfederal aid. By contrast, 72 percent of the 780,000 miles of state-owned roads are in the federal aid system (Figure 1).
Mississippi River Watershed Report Card
Wednesday, October 21st, 2015AMERICA’S WATERSHED INITIATIVE
The Mississippi River Watershed has diminished as a healthy and sustaining water resource over the last several decades. To raise the grade, we need integrated management to reflect the relationships between the different goals and basins, and increased participation by partners and stakeholders working together on specific actions to improve the watershed.
Guest on The Infra Blog: Philip K. Howard, Founder & Chair, Common Good
Tuesday, October 20th, 2015Philip K. Howard is a well-known leader of government and legal reform in America. In 2002, he formed Common Good, a nonpartisan national coalition dedicated to restoring common sense to America.
“…we’re at one of those points where lots of things have to change in our society, and one of them happens to be the legal infrastructure. You can’t have a democracy where the people you elect actually don’t have the authority that goes along with their responsibility…it’s kind of a form of legal mental illness. It’s bad for everybody. Bad for the environment, bad for costs, bad for everybody.”
View this complete post...Rhode Island: The Economic Impact of RhodeWorks
Monday, October 19th, 2015RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF REVENUEREGIONAL ECONOMIC MODELS, INC. Executive Summary Rhode Island ranks last in the nation for overall bridge condition. The RhodeWorks accelerated transportation plan seeks to achieve a goal of 90% structurally sufficient bridges, the federally mandated minimum, by 2025, with the intention of improving safety, making Rhode Island more attractive for businesses […]
View this complete post...ARTBA 2015 Student Video Contest Submissions
Wednesday, October 14th, 2015Hosted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, this video contest invites students around the US to submit short videos on the subject of transportation.
View this complete post...Follow InfrastructureUSA
CATEGORIES
- Accountability (219)
- Aging Infrastructure (755)
- Aviation (130)
- Biking (323)
- Bipartisan (271)
- Bridges (493)
- Broadband (57)
- Buses (160)
- Carbon Tax (22)
- Clean Air (182)
- Climate Change (200)
- Competitiveness (230)
- Congestion (327)
- Dams (77)
- Democrat (123)
- Drinking Water (191)
- Economic Stimulus (276)
- Employment (207)
- Energy (585)
- Environment (615)
- Equity (239)
- Funding (888)
- Global (205)
- Great American Infrastructure (33)
- Green (294)
- Guests on The Infra Blog (281)
- Hazardous Waste (27)
- High Speed Rail (224)
- Highway (785)
- Inland Waterways (204)
- Jobs (251)
- Land Use (98)
- LEED (28)
- Levees (42)
- Local (1,910)
- National (1,526)
- Policy (1,121)
- Pollution (215)
- Private Investment (213)
- Public Opinion (189)
- Public Parks & Recreation (197)
- Public Transportation (1,028)
- Racism (6)
- Rail (503)
- Recession (65)
- Recovery (218)
- Republican (109)
- Roads (1,120)
- Schools (80)
- Seaports (68)
- Smart Grid (98)
- Smart Growth (442)
- Solid Waste (26)
- Sustainability (765)
- Tax (112)
- Technology (397)
- Telecommunications (46)
- Transit (1,333)
- Urban Planning (981)
- Wastewater (181)
- Water Treatment (166)
Video, stills and tales. Share images of the Infra in your community that demands attention. Post your ideas about national Infra issues. Go ahead. Show Us Your Infra! Upload and instantly share your message.
Is the administration moving fast enough on Infra issues? Are Americans prepared to pay more taxes for repairs? Should job creation be the guiding determination? Vote now!
What do the experts think? This is where the nation's public policy organizations, trade associations and think tanks weigh in with analysis on Infra issues. Tell them what you think. Ask questions. Share a different view.
The Infra Blog offers cutting edge perspective on a broad spectrum of Infra topics. Frequent updates and provocative posts highlight hot button topics -- essential ingredients of a national Infra dialogue.
Dear Friends,
It is encouraging to finally see clear signs of federal action to support a comprehensive US infrastructure investment plan.
Now more than ever, our advocacy is needed to keep stakeholders informed and connected, and to hold politicians to their promises to finally fix our nation’s ailing infrastructure.
We have already engaged nearly 280,000 users, and hoping to add many more as interest continues to grow.
We require your support in order to rise to this occasion, to make the most of this opportunity. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to InfrastructureUSA.org.
Steve Anderson
Managing Director
SteveAnderson@InfrastructureUSA.org
917-940-7125