Aging Infrastructure and Local Solutions to Stalled Development

America's "aging infrastructure" and local urban solutions to stalled construction projects are written about in the clips of this installment of Infrastructure in the News. Read more below.

National News

Infrastructurist: Is America's Aging Infrastructure a Recipe for Disaster?
That’s an image from the Wall Street Journal showing the incredibly old offshore infrastructure operating in the Gulf of Mexico. (The redder the dot, the older the structure.) Of more than 3,000 oil and gas production platforms being used off the coast, a third were built in the 1970s or earlier, “long before the development of modern construction standards,” the Journal writes. Some date back to the 1940s. Production platforms are only part of the problem; the Gulf’s fixed wells and undersea pipes are also far past their primes.

Fleet Owner: Tough choices ahead for transportation policy-makers
With a federal fuel tax considered by most experts to be a dead issue given the current political climate on Capitol Hill, transportation policy-makers tougher choices ahead regarding how to allocate increasingly scarce funding for roads, bridges, rails mass transit, ports, etc.

Los Angeles Times: Urban Development: Cities embrace temporary fixes for stalled construction projects
The economic downturn has littered the nation's cities with soured real estate developments — empty lots or partly built projects that were abandoned when funding dried up. Now architects, developers and urban planner are trying to sweeten the situation with projects like the LentSpace park in downtown Manhattan.

State News

Washington Examiner: A cheap bus undermines high-speed rail
The recent, and ongoing effort by Richmond’s airport authority to cow residents into flying on the discount carriers who serve the city, or risk losing them, may have hit an unforeseen snag: the arrival of an ultra low cost bus service.

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: CA Mayors Ask Sen. Barbara Boxer for a 21st Century Transpo System
Sixty-five elected officials representing a number of California cities are urging California Senator Barbara Boxer to push a new federal transportation bill that reforms spending and puts a focus on public transit, walking and biking, or “21st century needs.” Boxer, as chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, could play a key role in the long-term re-authorization of the federal surface transportation act.

Lake Stevens Journal: Washington State Transportation Commission News
Calling this the beginning of a new era that is bringing new challenges and requiring decisive action, the Washington State Transportation Commission has approved a 20-year transportation plan. Although the plan recognizes that the foundation of our state and local transportation system is strong in many respects, without additional investment, travel will become more difficult as infrastructure deteriorates, congestion increases, and public transportation service is cut.