Pa. crumbling at an average national rate When it comes to roads, bridges, transit and other facilities important to everyday life, Pennsylvania is nearly failing, says a nationwide engineers' group.
The American Society of Civil Engineers, in its first-ever 'state report card,' issued an overall 'D' grade for Pennsylvania yesterday. It issued just one 'B' -- for freight rail investments -- and no 'As' in a total of nine categories.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Pa. crumbling at an average national rate
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Pa. crumbling at an average national rate
Report on dams, waterways, roads, bridges, rail, transit
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
By Joe Grata, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When it comes to roads, bridges, transit and other facilities important to everyday life, Pennsylvania is nearly failing, says a nationwide engineers' group.
The American Society of Civil Engineers, in its first-ever "state report card," issued an overall "D" grade for Pennsylvania yesterday. It issued just one "B" -- for freight rail investments -- and no "As" in a total of nine categories.
The report evaluated dams, drinking water, navigable waterways used for commercial activity, wastewater and aviation as well as roads, bridges, rail and transit.
Mostly, Pennsylvania's infrastructure got bad grades, including a "D-minus" in both navigable waterways and in wastewater systems discharging untreated sewage into lakes, streams and rivers.
But as bad as its grade was, Pennsylvania is not any worse off than the rest of the country. In five categories, Pennsylvania graded a shade better than national averages; in four categories, Pennsylvania was the same.
The announcement triggered political reaction akin to a teacher-parent dispute over a kid's grades.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation rushed to the defense of Gov. Ed Rendell, even though he was not faulted in the report.
"Unfortunately ASCE focused on unmet needs without accounting for the steady progress made in recent years under Governor Rendell's leadership," PennDOT Secretary Allen Bieher said in a statement, listing statistics of how the Democrat administration in Harrisburg has bettered roads, bridges, freight rail lines and aviation.
A half-hour later, the Republican State Committee issued a news release, saying $350 million in traditional highway funds that Gov. Rendell "flexed" to transit systems to solve financial crises has had "devastating effects on the rest of Pennsylvania."
"The Keystone State is crumbling," GOP Committee Executive Director Scott Migli said, suggesting the money that went almost entirely to Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (70 percent) and Allegheny County Port Authority (25 percent) should have been spent on roads a nd bridges as legislators intended.
"Ed Rendell is more interested in making sure Philadelphia's buses are running than fixing the rest of Pennsylvania's roads and bridges," he said. "This is another example of a governor who still doesn't understand he was elected to serve all Pennsylvanians whether they live in Port Royal or Philadelphia."
Although the ASCE report card brought on the spat, officials said the intent was to focus attention on the state's aging infrastructure and enormous public expenditures that will be needed.
The Pittsburgh Section of the ASCE held a news briefing at the City-County Building at the same time as counterparts for the Central Pennsylvania, Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia chapters, representing 5,200 engineers statewide.
John Kovacs, newly-elected president of the Pittsburgh Section, said 20 civil engineers statewide worked to create a nonpartisan report to supplement similar national reports done periodically by the ASCE.
Although Pennsylvania fared no worse than the national average, that's "still not very good," said John Menniti, head of ASCE's Legislative Affairs Committee. He pointed to local infrastucture problems such as boil-water advisories, raw sewage backing into basements and the collapse of a bridge beam on Interstate 70 in Washington County last December.
"From when we brush our teeth in the morning to when we turn off the light at night, infrastructure affects our lives," Mr. Menniti said. "But we have failed to make investments to keep up with our growing population and growing needs."
Other organizations such as the Washington, D.C.-based The Road Information Program and the Keystone Transportation Coalition have produced similar reports in the past.
Asked if the ASCE has an answer, "It'll be a political solution," Mr. Menniti said.
(Joe Grata can be reached at jgrata@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1985. )
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