America’s Infrastructure Report Card – Grade D

May 16-23, 2016

Infrastructure is a vital component of our everyday lives. It serves as the building block for nearly all of the systems that we rely on daily. The major pieces of modern society’s infrastructure include roads, broadband, power lines, gas lines, and water and sewer lines.

In addition to the drinking water from our faucets and the electricity that lights our homes, these building blocks are essential to the goods we ship and the companies that make and sell them. Infrastructure shapes our daily commutes and summer vacations.

Given the lack of infrastructure investment that has led to our large number of potholes, corroded water mains, and broken sewers and travel delays, you might never realize how vital infrastructure is to our health, quality of life, and prosperity.

Photo: Michigan Department of Transportation

Plucked from the headlines, here are some examples of how infrastructure affects life in Southeast Michigan:

• Metro Detroit roads ranked 4th worst in U.S. (Detroit News, July 23, 2015)
• Huge pothole closes I-75 bridge lanes in Mich. (USA Today, November 2, 2015)
• Most Metro Detroit communities will pay more for water (Detroit News, March 2, 2016)
• Detroit prepares for increase in water main breaks (Detroit News, January 21, 2016)

Infrastructure Week kicked off Monday, marking a week of education and advocacy efforts across the nation to raise awareness of infrastructure needs and spur action. Since 1998, the nation’s infrastructure has earned “D” averages in The Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This pattern reflects a sustained failure to close the investment gap with needed maintenance and improvement continues.

These concerns regarding infrastructure are not new to SEMCOG. “Reliable, quality infrastructure” is one of five outcomes identified by Southeast Michigan’s leaders as critical for creating a successful and sustainable region.

So how do we improve our infrastructure? Improvements begin with a sustainable source of funds to adequately maintain what we have.

This answer may not be what many want to hear. It may also invoke the following responses:

• Are we getting the greatest return on our investment?
• Are we pricing our user fees to pay for ongoing operations, maintenance, rebuilding our aging “plant” capacity and, when necessary, service expansion? What is the appropriate price?
• Are we using the best materials?
• Are the best fixes being applied and are they being implemented correctly?

Infrastructure maintenance, rebuilding, and expansion are mostly regional and local problems. By necessity, the financial burden will be largely local. The decisions of what to maintain, what to rebuild, and what to expand are also increasingly local. We must make wise choices.

If we are to maintain and improve our infrastructure, it is imperative that we reconnect the customer, the product, and the price. It is also imperative that we improve our infrastructure decision-making. We must assimilate all of the information, holistically look at the interrelated infrastructure pieces, and make the best investment choices. It won’t be easy. Our health, safety, economy and quality of life depend upon it.