Poorly maintained, outdated, overcrowded highways are unsafe. Period. Congress needs to budget for repairs, upgrades and expansion. Period.
Every member of the House transportation committee should be required to drive Interstate 40 between Memphis and Little Rock as a prerequisite for consideration of the next highway bill. Since formal proceedings begin today, that’s not going to happen.
But if they’d taken the trip in either direction last week, they routinely would have encountered delays adding an hour, maybe two, to a two-hour drive.
No big deal in the grand scheme of things? Only if this 100 miles is the only instance in the federal highway system. And I’m betting it’s not; it’s just the one example with which I’m all too familiar.
As a passenger car driver, the uncertainty is an inconvenience. But with local knowledge and modern traffic reporting technology, I know and use the alternate routes – though they are few and escape exits are far between.
And I’ll admit it: My spirits are lifted, like being one of the few people not seasick on a rolling ship, when from a parallel road I can see traffic backed up for miles on a major national artery. The long cut is “only” costing me 30 minutes – I’m way ahead of the game.
Except I’m not, really. We all lose.
