Back in April, The Sentinel reported on the group RAIL Solutions and its advocacy for a "Steel Interstate" pilot project that would develop passenger and freight rail capacity between Tennessee and Harrisburg.
The idea is to get traffic off Interstate 81 and eliminate the need for a third lane, which many I-81 states have been eyeing for some time.
The third lane is a bad idea for a host of reasons - from the cost and the environmental impact of construction to the simple fact that more traffic will continue to degrade the quality of life for communities along the interstate.
Precisely what we don't need is more congestion and diesel exhaust. Highway engineers will be the first to tell you that expanding highway capacity leads to even more usage.
The Steel Interstate was back in the news last week. Members of RAIL Solution traveled to Washington, D.C., to pitch the pilot project and gain support. The response was predictable.
"The reaction we got mostly was, ‘This is a really great idea and it looks like it has a lot of merit. How are we going to get the money to do it?' A.L. "Pete" Lotts, a RAIL Solution board member told the The Knoxville New Sentinel.
We're going to be hearing that more and more in years to come, as "great" - and needed - ideas are put forward. How are we going to pay?
It's shocking that one of the wealthiest nations on the planet can't afford to invest in its future, particularly in areas such as infrastructure, which lasts for decades and is essential to a thriving economy.
It says a lot about our priorities in the past 50-odd years, and about our sorry approach to capital investment. Even when the nation comes up with the cash to build something like the interstate highway system - which not only changed the face of the American landscape but changed our national outlook as well - we're not very good at thinking beyond the day the final worker on the project goes home and officials cut the ceremonial ribbon declaring the project complete
We leave "minor" details like maintenance and repairs to the next officeholder, the next generation of taxpayers. And as the saying goes, "pay me now, or pay me later."
The price of neglect is exponential compared to the cost of routine upkeep on anything, whether it's a highway, a house or a car.
When it comes to our nation's transportation network, the day of reckoning has arrived with a vengeance. And it's not just on the federal level. Among the many challenges Gov. Corbett will grapple with in his term is a $2.5 billion bill - annual - for the commonwealth's transportation infrastructure, which is notorious nationally for its poor condition.
The governor has an advisory commission looking at options to find the money. Off the table are items the previous administration lobbied for, including more interstate tolls, privatization of the turnpike, carbon emissions taxes and some form of vehicle tax based on miles driven rather than fuel consumed.
On the table are a host of fee increases and other ways to make citizens pay more. It looks like we're about to pay up on years of having low vehicle registration and licensing fees compared to other states. As Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch noted last week, none of these fees has been raised since 1997 and some have been left alone since the 1980s.
So while groups like RAIL Solutions make laudable efforts to build for the future, and should be encouraged to keep fighting for their vision, nobody should be surprised that any available dollars are bound to be consumed by the collective failure to care for what we already have.
And that citizens will be expected to open their wallets yet again to make up for that failure.
