Public Roads: You Get What You Pay For
July 20th, 2010 at 11:09 am By Jeff Van Wychen
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, confirms what motorists have long known: road conditions in much of the upper Midwest, and especially in Minnesota, are deteriorating.
Fedgazette publishes information compiled about the ninth federal reserve district, which includes Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Montana, northwestern Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan. A recent issue of fedgazette examined road conditions in these states using highway statistics gleaned from annual Federal Highway Administration reports—the same data used by Minnesota 2020 in our January 2010 report, “On Our Way to Average: Ranking Minnesota’s Economic Performance.”
Fedgazette found that “The overall condition of roads in the [ninth] district has deteriorated during the past decade, with marked declines in Minnesota and North Dakota, according to federal statistics and surveys.” Based on the data cited by fedgazette, road conditions in Minnesota, as measured by the percentage of roads in poor or mediocre conditions, have gone from second best among the six states in the ninth district in 2002 to second worse in 2007.
Fedgazette observes that “the overall condition of district roads declined from 2002 to 2007, with Minnesota suffering the worst falloff in ride quality during that period.” Using the same data, “On Our Way to Average” found that Minnesota’s rank among the fifty states in road conditions fell from 8th in 2002 to 27th in 2007. During this period, the number of Minnesota roads in poor or mediocre condition more than doubled. As illustrated in the graph below, Minnesota leads ninth district states in the growth of poor or mediocre road conditions.
The fedgazette article goes on to note that “A 2008 survey of Minnesota county highway engineers gave a downbeat assessment of road and bridge quality; nearly three-quarters of the engineers said the facilities they oversee had deteriorated over the past 10 years.”
The article notes the role of transportation investment in promoting economic development:
As the economies of district states grew, their spreading road networks became conduits for further job creation, income growth and business expansion. Farmers relied on county roads to deliver their crops to the nearest elevator; manufacturers and wholesalers trucked their goods to distant cities via interstate and trunk highways; suburbanites commuted on urban freeways and connectors to their jobs in the city.
As public dollars have dwindled, investment in roads declined.
Nationally and in the district, much construction and maintenance work isn’t being done due to lack of funding. A big chunk of the to-do list consists of a backlog created by years of putting off bridge repairs, highway expansions, repaving and other projects.
Unfortunately, Minnesota is not immune from this national trend.
The drop-off in state road taxes and fees trickles down to local public works departments, which in most district states receive state aid to build and maintain roads and bridges. In Minnesota, state highway user tax revenue distributed to counties and cities declined in constant dollars from 2003 to 2009.
The time frame of the data examined by fedgazette does not include the impact of the gas tax increase approved by the legislature in 2008 by means of overriding Governor Pawlenty’s veto. The infusion of gas tax dollars should reverse or at least slow the deterioration in Minnesota’s road infrastructure.
The hard facts laid out by the impartial analysts at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank underscore what should be apparent: if we want good roads, we will have to pay for them. Those who advocate lower taxes and less public investment must take responsibility for the resulting decline in public infrastructure.
Tags: county highway engineers, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, fedgazette, On Our Way to Average, Transportation investment
I find it hard to understand after the bridge collapse and the current execrable driving conditions on roads and highways why some people keep urging not only no new taxes, but cut taxes.
I find it hard to understand why we are diverting transportation money from roads & bridges and putting the money on Light Rail.
Mike, the gas tax in MN is constitutionally dedicated to roads and bridges. Funds for light rail comes from completely different (and realtively tiny) pots of money. Apples and oranges. We need to focus more of our highway funding to repairing our crumbling transportation infrastructure (roads and bridges) instead of dumping it into big expensive expansion projects. Fix it first.
And, in addition, light rail IS transportation. Efficient, clean public transportation.
Don’t forget failing bridges. Many actual “highways” in Metro Minnesota are County Roads whereas in out-state Minnesota county roads are more often narrower or even unpaved. The story doesn’t distinguish the type of roadways compared.
If you think highways are the worst transportation system, you should look at seaways, rivers (barge channels and locks), and airports. MSP is less than half used by Minnesotans or Minnesota businesses and the less-safe expansion has been funded by local travelers (both through passenger fees and through airline fees — with the airlines’ costs rolled up in 35 to 40% higher fares (compared by mile to non-hub cities).
Generally speaking, MSP facility costs are at least half to serve connecting passengers.
WE WHINE ABOUT ROAD SURFACE CONDITIONS BUT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE BRIDGES WE DRIVE OVER. PERHAPS THE DOT AND OTHERS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO POST BRIDGE INSPECTION RESULTS AT EACH BRIDGE WITH SOME TYPE OF COLORED SIGN BY LEVEL OF CONDITION. WHAT PERCENT OF NEW FED HIWAY MONEY IS BEING SPENT ON BRIDGE REPAIR/REPLACEMENT?
Road quality decline is just one of the indicators pointing to where we are headed. Roads are expensive and energy intensive to create, maintain…and use. Energy descent is on the horizon, as are other limits to growth beginning to be troubling. Geology will determine how much more cheap energy will be available. As the energy required to find and produce energy from our traditional fossil fuel sources, we will find it rapidly becoming unaffordable and then unavailable. Expect rationing. Expect economic chaos. Our economy MUST grow or it will fail. Buy a house for $200k and expect to pay back about $400k over the life of the mortgage. Where will the new wealth ($200k) come from? Lawyers fees amd paper scams in banks, for instance, count in our goofy GDP numbers, but they do not create the kind of new wealth that feeds, clothes, transports or houses people. Real wealth comes from the extraction of natural resources, and their subsequent uses in processing, manufacturing and distribution activities, all of which consume large amounts of energy. So, get used to the idea of crushed rock roads and potholes that swallow tires. The home with a three car garage will become an anachronism as we slide back toward homes with a one stall garage, or no garage at all. We are in the beginning of the end of the age of oil and most of us are still clueless, thanks to the denialist behavior of our major print and broadcast news outlets.