Editor’s Note: Funding trickles in

Funding trickles in

Sarah Wright | Editor

The wheels of government turn slowly, but finally a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill has become law. According to WhiteHouse.gov, this legislation will deliver clean water and eliminate lead service lines; provide reliable high-speed internet; repair and rebuild roads and bridges; improve transportation options for millions of Americans and reduce greenhouse emissions through the largest investment in public transit; upgrade airports and ports; invest in passenger rail; build a network of electric vehicle chargers; among other improvements.

The funding is badly needed across the board. The “2021 Report Card for America’s

Infrastructure” gave an overall grade of C- for the U.S.’s infrastructure as a whole. Our roads fared even worse with a D, which is unchanged from the 2017 report card.

Of roads, the American Society of Civil

Engineers website notes, “However, these vital lifelines are frequently underfunded, and over 40% of the system is now in poor or mediocre condition. As the backlog of rehabilitation needs grows, motorists are forced to pay over $1,000 every year in wasted time and fuel. Additionally, while traffic fatalities have been on the decline, over 36,000 people are still dying on the nation’s roads every year, and the number of pedestrian fatalities is on the rise.”

“Dangerous By Design 2021,” published by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition, found that Florida led the nation in pedestrian fatalities. Their report showed 5,893 pedestrian fatalities between 2010 and 2019, amounting to average annual pedestrian fatalities of 2.8 per 100,000, and a danger index of 201.4 as of the 2021 report. The next nearest danger index — Alabama — dropped to 174.6. The overall national average is 63.3.

Writer Dani Messick is spotlighting one Florida city’s efforts to improve pedestrian safety using tactical urbanism. Deerfield Beach worked with Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization on the endeavor through its BTactical initiative. All in all, the project has been well received.

A little further north, Hillsboro, Va., has also sought to increase pedestrian safety while also undertaking a massive infrastructure project that went beyond its roads. Writer Julie Young shares Hillsboro’s ambitious ReThink9, a $34 million, multifaceted road that included two roundabouts, raised crosswalks, sidewalks, a new municipal drinking water system, wastewater treatment facility, stormwater collection system, underground utility lines and state-of-theart dark-sky-compliant streetlamps. An impressive endeavor for a town of 200!

Other topics in this issue include the U.S.’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Fla., and its mission to prevent flooding while also speeding recovery should it happen; Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s, volunteer Snow Buddies program; and finally the benefits of using hydrodemolition.

As we get into the swing of the new year, may your roadways be relatively pothole free! .