Infrastructure in the News: May 2, 2012

BAF IN THE NEWS

Concord Patch: Sewalls Falls Road Closed Until Further Notice
http://concord-nh.patch.com/articles/sewalls-falls-road-closed-until-fur...
Last year, Mesa, Arizona, Mayor Scott Smith came to Concord on behalf of Building America’s Future, a bipartisan coalition of officials who would like to bring a new era of investment in infrastructure that enhances the nation’s prosperity and quality of life. Officials from New Hampshire involved in the effort stressed the need to reconstruct the bridge.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Huffington Post: Transportation and Infrastructure = Immediate Jobs = Deficit Reduction
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/transportation-infrastruc_b_1...
There are millions of infrastructure jobs that absolutely need doing. There are millions of people out of work who really, really need jobs. On top of that the cost of financing is the lowest ever. So maintaining and modernizing our infrastructure would immediately put millions of people to work. But wait, there's more! Modernizing our infrastructure would make our economy more efficient and our businesses more competitive, bringing returns for decades.

Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Highway Holdup
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230391690457737683193345243...
The road construction lobby is desperate for a long-term highway funding bill, but the House and Senate are still miles apart in agreeing to legislation. Both have passed their own versions of a highway measure, but the Senate bill spends $8 billion to $10 billion above the gas tax trust amount. That's a break-the-bank solution that House conservatives won't agree to. They are demanding a plan that pays for the construction projects with oil royalty money from opening up parts of Alaska and perhaps offshore areas to drilling.

Huffington Post: Kucinich: How to Fund the Massive Infrastructure Investments That We Need Now
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-dennis-kucinich/how-to-fund-the-massiv...
The AFL-CIO president is calling for massive infrastructure investment. After decades of neglect, our infrastructure is crumbling as maintenance and replacement schedules get pushed back. Much of our aging infrastructure is beyond its useful life or at full capacity. We need to invest in repairing and renewing our crumbling infrastructure before disaster strikes. There is a simple way to pay for needed investments which doesn't require taxing or borrowing.

Policy Mic: For U.S. to Get Out of Economic Slump, Simply Build Better Roads and Ports
http://www.policymic.com/articles/7680/for-u-s-to-get-out-of-economic-sl...
Only three years ago the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country’s infrastructure an overall grade of “D,” requesting that the nation invest $255 billion a year to fix the problem. We currently invest only 40% of that amount, and it seldom invested well. Even though the challenge is complex, a national freight policy with a number of components – including the passage of the Realizing America’s Maritime Promise (RAMP) Act; an increase taxes or redirection of funds to transportation infrastructure; or the creation of a national infrastructure bank – would resolve many of our difficulties.

Denver Post: Peirce: U.S. metro regions on the rise
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_20490743/peirce-u-s-metro-regions-r...
"America's Metro Regions Take Center Stage." That's the title of a new report I've been working on with colleagues. And we know that some people will immediately retort: "Metros? You can't be serious. How about Obama, Romney, congressional stalemate, the Tea Party, states in budget crisis — and all the other news flavors of the moment?" And our reply: Flying almost undetected under the news radar, America's metropolitan regions are becoming central to today's American story — and future.

STATE NEWS

Market Watch: Fitch Rates Arizona State Board of Transportation's GANs 'AA'; Outlook Stable
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fitch-rates-arizona-state-board-of-tran...
Fitch Ratings assigns an 'AA' rating to the Arizona State Board of Transportation's (the board) approximately $44 million series 2012 refunding grant anticipation notes (GANs). In addition, Fitch affirms the 'AA' rating on approximately $374 million in outstanding GANs. The Rating Outlook is Stable.

Transportation Nation: In Florida, Aging Population Struggles to Get Around
http://transportationnation.org/2012/05/01/in-florida-aging-population-s...
With more than three million residents over the age of 65, Florida’s population has the highest proportion of senior citizens of any state in the US. One challenge facing many of Florida’s seniors is how to get out and about once they can no longer drive. In Orlando, some 300 seniors subscribe to the Independent Transportation Network private non-profit car service. Bea Chernok uses ITN a couple of times a week, for everything from doctors visits to social excursions.

DC Streetsblog: Atlanta Transpo Referendum Draws an Unlikely Opponent in Local Sierra Club
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/05/01/atlanta-transpo-referendum-draws-an...
One of the most exciting transit expansion dramas unfolding in the United States right now is Atlanta’s transportation referendum: the Transportation Investment Act, or TIA, for short. This one-cent sales tax would raise more than $7 billion for local transportation projects — at least $3.14 billion of which would be dedicated to transit. This issue — up for vote in July — will determine whether Atlanta can move forward with the rail portion of its groundbreaking, ring-shaped “Beltline.”

Las Vegas TSG Business News: Nevada House Delegation Calls for Designation of I-11 Corridor
http://www.lvtsg.com/imho/2012/05/nevada-house-delegation-calls-for-desi...
Just days after the House of Representatives named conferees to work out the differences between House and Senate-passed transportation bills, Members of the Nevada House delegation sent a letter to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) and Ranking Member Nick Rahall (D-WV) urging them to include language designating “roadways within the CANAMEX corridor in Arizona and Nevada to be I-11.”  Such a designation would make I-11 eligible for future federal funding for road construction and improvement projects which would increase economic activity in the region as well as relieve traffic demand on smaller roadways.