Bridge
infrastructure is a national security issue on a local
scale. Our lives, and commerce, depend upon
structure integrity. In the aftermath of the August 1, 2007
tragedy in Minneapolis when Interstate 35W collapsed, we
need to step back and consider our priorities locally, and
nationally.
The South Florida
Sun-Sentinel asked the correct question on Friday,
August 3. "How Safe Are Our Bridges?" Several Broward County
bridges were listed as "structurally deficient." That does
not mean they are going to fail today, tomorrow, or next
year, but if they are not up to structural standards, no one
will argue they should not be fixed as soon as possible.
The problem is pervasive.
According to 2006 figures from the U.S. Department of
Transportation's Federal Highway Administration, there are
11,527 bridges in the State of Florida. Of that number, 327
are structurally deficient and 1,749 are "functionally
obsolete." That equates to 18 percent of the Sunshine
State's bridges. Instead of building new unnecessary bridges
we should fix the ones we have and strengthen our
infrastructure.
Americans are worried about
their bridges, and rightly so. According to a CNN/Opinion
Research Poll released on August 9, 2007, 52 percent of
those responding were "somewhat worried" or "very
worried" about bridge failure. That same poll reveals that
one third of those polled feel a bridge they drive over on a
regular basis will collapse. Congressman James Oberstar,
D-Minnesota, claims 74,000 bridges across the nation are
rated by Washington as "structurally deficient." Other
lawmakers in Washington are sounding the alarm as well.
According to the
Washington Post, on August 12, 2007, "Locally and
nationally, we have neglected our transportation
infrastructure for years. Lawmakers at the state and
national levels have refused to raise the taxes needed to
provide the money for necessary highway and bridge
construction and maintenance. While funding levels have
stagnated, the numbers of vehicles and miles traveled on our
roads and bridges have soared, as has the cost of building
and maintaining them. Recently, some funding spigots have
begun to open, but the maintenance backlog is enormous." As
the Post points out, "this tragedy should serve as
a reminder that one doesn't have to be a structural engineer
to understand the consequences of funding transportation
inadequately year after year. Such under funding forces
essential maintenance to be deferred, which can have serious
consequences."
MONEY AND
PRIORITIES
One immediate effect of
the bridge tragedy in Minnesota is to refocus the nation on
what it will take to fix this problem. Four ingredients are
necessary. First, there must be a political
will to tackle the problem. The strategic assets that
bridges represent should be cast as a pressing national
security issue. Second, there must be a
bureaucratic will to address the issue and listen to the
people. It is no longer acceptable for government
bureaucracies to push aside this issue in favor of newer
projects. Third, proper funding needs to be
diverted and spent on fixing the concrete and steel upon
which we depend to traverse rivers, canals and low lying
areas. Fourth, we need follow-through, to
see the job is done, and completed correctly. The public,
you and me, have to stand up and demand infrastructure
improvement based upon sound reasoning and common sense.
What's new is not always
better. What we have in place needs to be working right.
Yet, in a matter of weeks, FDOT will embark on what may be a
50 year "public-private-partnership" commitment which makes
no financial sense, and which further imperils the need for
infrastructure maintenance.
With the Florida Department
of Transportation moving to a "toll" model on major
superhighways such as Interstate 95 and Interstate 595 to
move traffic during periods of congestion, it appears paying
for your ride to and from your work activities is here to
stay. With the development of SunPass and similar toll
collecting technology, we are rapidly moving into an era of
paying for much more than gas and vehicle maintenance when
we take to the highways. In short, even though we use what
were originally called "freeways," we that name is no
longer true. Collecting highway tolls, and directing them in
the right direction (maintenance, infrastructure integrity
and improvement) is a key element in the continuing safety
of our public investments.
But we are about to give
away untold millions due to the P3 FDOT is currently putting
into place on I-595. The State of Florida is about to lease
an elevated portion of a key strategic highway, Interstate
595, to a company for up to a half century or more. In late
July, FDOT met with private equity and construction
interests in Coral Springs to discuss "Interstate 595
Express," an elevated reversible toll bridge to be built on
top of grade level I-595 spanning an area from east of
Weston to east of S.R. 7/US 441 and I-595. By partnering
with private concerns, tolls anticipated from traffic that
might use the reversible skyway will be denied to the State
of Florida. Instead, they will go into a corporate bank
account.
Over the years, monies
needed to update our infrastructure as the years pass will
be diverted from that essential task, and eventually
the government will say it does not have the funds to fix
aging bridges and roadways which will increasingly require
attention. By diverting much needed revenue to the State,
the cycle of ignoring infrastructure needs will continue,
exponentially.
CHASING SHADOWS
State
Officials don't agree Florida will lose this revenue,
however. They call it "Shadow Tolling" and plan it for
I-595. This has never been done in the United States,
according to Miami Herald reporter Larry
Lebowitz. In an article entitled, "Shadow tolls a financing
option for big 595 upgrade," reported August 6, 2007, "the
public--not private vendors--would ultimately pocket the
revenue generated from the lanes." According to the article,
"The more traffic that gets through the [I-595] corridor,
the more money the State will pay the vendor, up to a
certain capped level." The corporation funding the
construction of the elevated lanes and responsible for
maintaining and operating them will theoretically be paid
one flat rate per car, the "lowest per car rate they can
afford--and still turn a profit--in return for fronting the
State its money and managing the job."
What's wrong with shadow
tolling? Plenty. Controls are missing. According to the
Herald article, "The winning team will submit the
lowest per-vehicle bid over the life of the project." There
is no announced plan to contain the "lowest per-car rate"
over the life of a 50 year lease. It does not take an
economist to know that the lowest rate per car will go up
year after year. There will most certainly be revisions to
the rate. We all know material and operating costs will
increase as time passes, so just like the tolls on the road
will very from hour to hour for users ("Congestion
pricing,") the amount of money the contractors seek as
"the lowest rate" that can be afforded will inevitably
increase, thus depriving the State huge percentages of funds
that would otherwise be available to maintain not just 595,
but other infrastructure assets around Broward County and
Florida in general.
The shadow tolling concept
does not impose penalties on the corporation for projecting
the lowest per vehicle rate improperly. Shadow tolling
requires a lot of scrutiny by our State Legislators, but by
the time this funding mechanism is put under the microscope,
FDOT will have selected a company to play the shadow game.
Rest assured, no one can tell the future. Projections and
analysis in 2007 could be based upon improper assumptions
and factors which will require changes to the P3 funding
formula in 5, 10 or 15 years. The very data upon which FDOT
is relying in forecasting 595 traffic may be irrelevant and
wrong as South Florida marches toward 2020 and beyond.
In short, "shadow tolling"
is elusive, vague, and not good public policy. We already
see how private contractors work. Big projects end up with
huge cost overruns, faulty projections, unexpected
circumstances, and delays. Take a look at the delays and
extra millions needed to finish I-95 improvements in Palm
Beach County as an example. The very name "shadow tolling"
is a warning that FDOT is about to embark on an
unprecedented financial nightmare. In so doing. it
places its own shadow over financing for infrastructure
improvements.
No matter what name one
calls the financing scheme envisioned for I-595, it results
in one reality...The less money the State gets to fix our
bridges, the more our infrastructure problems grow. At
595Alert.org, we do not oppose improving the interstate. We
do oppose ignoring our infrastructure in favor of building
an ill conceived and financially shaky elevated skyway.
Before we rush to build high over 595, let's look at
reasonable solutions that will enable the State to take care
of its existing infrastructure, and infuse reason in
re-designing I-595. If we don't, the result could be a
financial collapse of the P3 structure, and siphoning money
away from bridges which might themselves, one
day, actually fail from neglect.
