Feel safe crossing this bridge?
The Missouri Department of Transportation made an abrupt announcement yesterday as commuters were
heading into the evening rush hour:
Inspectors said they found significant structural deterioration and ordered the ramp bridge closed until repairs could be made. Repairs could take two or three weeks or more.
The bridge is located in downtown Kansas City, Missouri and it connects eastbound Interstate 70 with southbound Interstate 35—both highly traveled roads. The problem isn't exclusive to this one bridge. In Jackson County, Missouri—where this bridge is located—an estimated
29% of bridges are considered structurally deficient. Nationwide, a jaw-dropping
61,000 bridges are considered structurally deficient. An equally shocking
87% of the most heavily trafficked bridges in the United States were built before 1970.
From an interview with Ray LaHood, former United States Secretary of Transportation:
Steve Kroft: Why? How did it get this way?
Ray LaHood: It's falling apart because we haven't made the investments. We haven't got the money. The last time we raised the gas tax, which is how we built the interstate system, was 1993.
Steve Kroft: What has the resistance been?
Ray LaHood: Politicians in Washington don't have the political courage to say, "This is what we have to do." That's what it takes.
Steve Kroft: They don't want to spend the money? They don't want to raise the taxes?
Ray LaHood: That's right. They don't want to spend the money. They don't want to raise the taxes. They don't really have a vision of America the way that other Congresses have had a vision of America.
Unfortunately, unless Congress and state politicians have the political will to do the right thing and begun funding our roads and bridges in a way necessary to properly maintain them, it will only be a matter of time before we have another tragedy like the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse that
killed 13 and injured 145 people.