Hmmmmm..... if only there were a way for government to get the money to provide basic services to people? I cannot figure out how that might work.
Alternatively... too bad. If you greedily vote for no taxes, then you reap what you sow. Enjoy your failing infrastructure, selfish people.
22
For those farmers having to drive miles out of their way to avoid bad roads and bridges, how does the cost of the gas and extra maintenance on the vehicles compare to what they might pay in extra taxes to get better roads and repaired bridges?
12
Wisconsin has a $753 million budget surplus and the Republican majority in the legislature is talking about more tax cuts. This is nuts! Our rural roads and the streets in our small towns (like the one I live in) are in terrible condition, our schools are underfunded, and there are many other unmet needs. I don't want any more tax cuts, I want my tax money to be better spent on things that will improve life for everyone.
23
$300k per mile to reconstruct a road and $17k per mile for chip sealing (tar and pebble). Every jurisdiction in the state needs roads, you would think there would be some serious leverage to get the cost down. Those prices seem very high. Maybe time for the county to invest in some road building equipment and do the easier jobs in-house.
5
It’s not just rural roads. Drive any road in New Jersey and you risk knocking the fillings out of your teeth. With the taxes and tolls we pay, I can’t understand how this is even possible. Gov. Murphy please fix the roads, or my vote will go somewhere else next time.
2
I agree. I live in Chicago; streets and sidewalks are often in poor condition, and when repairs are made, they too are poorly done. And Chicago already pays extremely
high, regressive sales taxes and fees, including on all grocery items (which Wisconsin does not).
2
Actually this part of a plan by Republicans to beat down some farmers who might be having a tough go of it. That's tough, 8 mile detours when you are broke and exhausted. Well, they'll just become part of the "losers" and that is the beauty of capitalism.
Anyway, our guys are busy rebuilding Afghanistan, courtesy of their heroes, George W. Bush, Paul Ryan, John Boehner and Donald Trump.
9
There's no point in fixing the roads because all of the contractors that perform the work have no idea what they're doing. I live in a major city and every road they repave is lumpy and uneven. We should start hiring the Chinese to do it because Americans do not possess the skills to correctly pave a road.
5
Wisconsin ran a budget surplus this year, so what did our heavily gerrymandered, Republican-controlled Legislature do? A $45 million property tax cut as a gift to their good buddies and campaign donors in the business community and a $205 million income tax cut to be divvied up among the real people taxpayers to the tune of a one-time windfall of $105 each. Whoop-dee-doo! Slightly over $2.00 extra a week!
But, you say, isn't there something better that the State could have done if they had kept the money and used it to take care of some pressing need? Invested it in the future, so to spak, instead of buying the whole state an extra cup of coffee every week? Gov. Evers suggested education; this article highlights our pressing need for road and bridge repairs. As far as I know neither of these options was even considered by the Legislature, and Gov. Evers' idea was shot down by GOP leaders almost as soon as he uttered it. Welcome to the land of fiscal irresponsibility, where Republicans prove on a daily basis that government doesn't work except as a cash cow and power show for themselves and their select wealthy friends.
I would say that this just proves that voters get what they deserve except most of us voted for Democrats. Thanks, SCOTUS!
18
Remember last year when Trump stormed out of a meeting with Pelosi and Schumer saying he wouldn't sign an infrastructure bill because Congress was investigating him? Keep voting for him and the Republicans and you'll reap what you sow.
9
How will farmers pick up their taxpayer funded subsidies, bailout, welfare checks with the roads in these conditions?
14
Urban disinvestment goes back to the postwar period. Since then you heard a huge sucking sound of tax dollars being funneled to empty country roads and bridges to nowhere while the majority of Americans tolerated using crumbling city infrastructure. Fix our cities first.
7
It’s critically important we keep tax rates vanishingly low for the uber rich, especially tech billionaires, financiers, real estate developers, celebrities and those whose millions come from catching or throwing balls in stadiums. As we’ve appreciated since the Reagan Era, “trickle down” economics has worked almost miraculously across this great land.
Since redirecting funding for government programs to tax breaks and business development incentives for the wealthiest, most bedazzled humans ever to walk the earth, we’ve seen nothing but unanticipated bounty across this great nation. Every child vaccinated and tri-lingual! Every senior cared for with love! Hunger banished! Water so safe, clear and sparking you could drink from puddles! Air fresher than that blowing over the Swiss Alps! Cancer, heart disease and age spots are distant memories! Why, our rural brothers and sisters have run out of ways to manage the largesse that’s trickled down upon them! Roads? They’re all using choppers and private planes to run out to the mall!
5
So the farm equipment is getting bigger and heavier - that's damaging roads not built to carry that type of load - and yet the people damaging the roads (i.e. the farmers) don't want to be taxed to fix the roads. Gee, maybe dip into the farmers HUGE corporate welfare check and use some of that money to pay to maintain the roads that farmers are wrecking. Non-farmers could be taxed the 1/5000 rate to cover the damage their cars/pickup trucks make. But hey, who cares, we should all be happy that those fine Republicans are cutting taxes and lining the pockets of the super rich - good job, poor people don't need stuff anyways.
16
I ride my bike across Iowa every year on RAGBRAI, and I've been truly shocked at how horrible some of the roads/streets are. We're not even talking the seamed roads like those shown being "repaired" at the top of the article; these are roads with so many cracks/holes/craters that it's hard to even drive on them. Many aren't even remote or little-used streets - they're streets IN TOWNS that are regularly traversed.
I always think, so much for the "richest country in the world." Maybe for some people. It's shameful.
4
So much for all those tax hating Republicans - no roads or bridges for them. Where did they think the money comes from?
10
Meanwhile China, with it's super sexy infrastructure and sleek trains, is speeding on - miles ahead . . .
4
@PS They don't have red states in China.
4
It’s not hustvrural areas, there is a lack of any sense of civic duty or social responsibility throughout society these days. The thought that anyone might have to contribute or sacrifice anything for the common good is anathema especially to Republicans. I don’t like the idea of mandatory military service like some countries have but I do think we need some sort of mandatory service program to instill in young adults the idea that we all owe something to our country and to the well-being of others.
10
Rural America is ruby red, in the main, and has voted for Republicans consistently for many generations. The fruits of such voting patterns have now come home to these rural populations and it is difficult to feel much sympathy for their fate and the lack of interest in their plight by Republican politicians. What did these rural voters expect to happen? What did they think the Republican politicians they elected would do?
15
The situation is more complicated than this article lets on. 50 years ago there were numerous small family farms that were able to earn a decent living. Over time, farming became a high volume, low margin business. As the family farms began to be bought up by the big commercial farms, the local tax base dwindled. The problem isn't that the taxes are too low or that rural communities are tax adverse, but rather that road maintenance costs have skyrocketed at the same time that local business profits have disappeared. The problem isn't lack of taxes, it's lack of local business.
4
@Roger Did you read the story:
The state’s gas tax, which is dedicated to transportation needs, has been unchanged since 2006. A proposal last year from Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, for an 8-cent increase was voted down by the Republican-led Legislature, which instead raised vehicle title and registration fees.
The problem is Republicans not wanting to pay reasonable tax for services they need.
15
Aren't all these deteriorating roads just do to too many and too deep tax cuts that are crushing local, city, and county road maintenance budgets?
3
It's not just Wisconsin. I've been bemoaning--and avoiding--treacherous potholes near my home for the last five years. It's a state road, but our governor would rather send small checks to all citizens than fix our crumbling infrastructure, even though tourism, which brings almost 30 million people a year to my area, is a leading part of the economy.
The old potholes literally had new potholes. That section of a highway also used as an evacuation route was finally repaved this week. When will the other roads be fixed, to say nothing of bridges over our rivers and swamps?
4
Ok - My husband has worked for a major paving contractor in Wisconsin for over 25 years and he is conservative but he agrees with raising the gas tax in order to improve the roads/ infrastructure of our state. He is frustrated with how the government in Wisconsin has dealt with this issue. Roads are important and need to be maintained - especially in a climate like ours - this is a no brainer and it is one of the few things both parties can agree on.
12
Why should residents have to bear the burden for these infrastructure costs? Seems to me that the business who make the most use of these roads with their heavy equipment type vehicles should maintain the upkeep either through a use tax or as part of their business' expense line.
3
You sound like a Democrat who always wants somebody else to pay. Of all the people I have ever known, Democrats have always complained about taxes more than Republicans, even wealthy Democrats.
@Confused
Remember when Grover said he wanted to shrink Gubmint down to it in his bathtub and then he could drown it ? He is a Republican icon, yes?
9
Before I become emotionally invested particular areas woes, I always ask how they voted. Lately, when it come to rural areas, I have not had to shed a tear.
10
I’m a Buffalo County Wisconsin supervisor. Our fellow taxpayers voted for a 4 million dollar bond to catch up on road construction and repair. They don’t mind paying for roads. The republicans that run the state refuse to let us raise taxes except for the little bit we can credit to a new construction formula. Roads are important and we know it, but the drug problems in our society mean we spend more money taking care off children whose parents are in jail or treatment.We have an aging population which will require more care and funding. We are trying desperately to bring broadband to all our citizens so that our young people might consider staying here after college. There are so many issues facing rural America and maybe the easiest to solve might be the roads. It’s still a beautiful place to live ...the Driftless Area.
8
The roads, the schools, and the stewardship of state lands all took a back seat to the corporate welfare of Thompson and Walker over the last 30 years. The brief window of Democrat control during the Doyle days was spent trying to repair the GOP damage. This cycle repeats itself on the federal level as well. The GOP squanders the taxpayer's money on extravagant benefits and subsidies for their rich cronies and leaves the rural schools, roads, and poor to suffer at the callused hand of capitalism.
12
I was disappointed that the story missed the reason that Wisconsin has such bad rural highways. It has little to with not enough revenues and everything to do with the immense power of the road building lobby.
The road building lobby wants to build new highways and expand existing highways. They have no interest in repairing rural roads where the return on their investment is small. Instead, they have successfully lobbied the legislature and governor (of both parties over the decades) to build new highways at the expense of maintaining existing roads.
The share of revenues going to local governments has been shrinking for years and money for largely unnecessary highway expansion has been growing.
Before adding any new revenues, the state has to come up with a fiscally constrained budget for fixing the roads we have before adding one penny for new roads.
To do that the politicos running the state will have to wean themselves from the hude contributions that come from the roadbuliders. Good luck wit that.
7
In general, roads all over WI- urban and rural- are in disrepair. The constant freezing and thawing destroys our roadways, and drivers and cars take a beating when driving on them. People sometimes resort to filing claims against cities or counties for damage to cars from hitting potholes. But, while everyone hates the plight of WI highways, they hate tax hikes more, and the Republican-controlled legislature won't support a far-sighted fix like a gas tax increase. The fact is, without a durable state-wide tax increase, WI roadways will continue to deteriorate.
8
It is everywhere the 19th Avenue in San Francisco is full of filled pot holes. Blame largely rests on American way of life in owning SUV trucks. They are a menace on roads blocking view mainly due to their size, weight another issue causing damage to the road surface leading to huge dips in roadways at nearly most traffic light stops due to heavy breaking. Most of the owner drivers are either enormous in size or tiny women who barely can see over the bonnet of the trucks. There is no respect in owning a vehicle which is used like a donkey and so many manufacturers are resorting to produce more of these horrible machines everyday. America has to change its way of life in respect to how we use Earths resources.
2
This is what a Republican led state look and act like. More proof that you should never vote for one..... Even in blue-state Republican enclaves it’s the same: “we need, we need, we need, but don’t ask us to pay for it.” The real reason they hate Washington isn’t the elites, it’s that they won’t send them money!
3
“Meet the Wisconsin farmers paying the price.” I don’t know who wrote this header, but the article actually describes farmers who refuse to pay the price. And also explains that rural America is more likely to vote for Colonel Sanders than Bernie Sanders.
9
Bizarre language in this article.. "Budgets haven't kept up." "Roads and bridges haven't kept up." Is that how you see it? I see bald incompetence and short term profit taking. this stuff ain't complicated. Or maybe Wisconsin is too dumb at this point to connect the dots between taxes and road repairs. Unfortunately we can't rule that out.
5
They keep voting in Republicans--what do you expect
(voting for things not in your best interest amazes me)
5
Funny the 1% don't drive big trucks / farming equipment. Funny most of the 1% don't even drive, there driven by drivers. If they do drive it's in a high-end leased range rover that's battle worthy and can take a pot-hole without spilling a $7 latte. The 1% "Taxes What Taxes""Bad Roads what Bad Roads". Vote GOP and keep MAGA.
Your GOP controls the legislature in the state of Wisconsin. They won’t approve actual solutions to fix these roads but instead blame ‘tax and spend’ Dems for everything. So, these roads haven’t been paved since the 60s because Reagan and Nordquist sold the Far Right on smaller government. That’s the source of failing infrastructure.
3
Hang in there folks, I here your hero is about to announce "infrastructure" week....for the 12th time. Only "he" can fix it.
3
We need a national infrastructure program to rival the CCC and WPA during the depression. It would also help to raise wages and slow wealth inequality. Such a program would provide meaningful employment where people could build some skills in engineering and construction, both of which need technological advancement.
But politicians don't seems to be looking at that.
5
Workers aren’t the issue, tax dollars are. I think you’re right, that we need a new federal road program, but raising taxes is what the article is really about. I come from a rural area, and you’d be amazed at how people can work the logic that the roads should be repaired but their taxes shouldn’t be raised. And they do this with everything, schools, policing, all of it.
6
I lived a good deal of my life in the rural midwest which elects, for the most part, Republicans. Following the wishes of the people who elected them, they have kept budgets tight and starved for tax dollars. I have seen the infrastructure in these places deteriorate over the 65 years of my life because only the barest of maintenance has been performed. Now the bill is coming due and still, all I hear is complaints about what needs to be done and at the same time, calls for lowering taxes.
The disconnect is obvious but completely escapes the notice of most of the folks calling for services. I hear the exact same excuses and arguments where I live now, Montana, as I did in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin where I still have relatives. Here, in Billings, extends to basic services such as police and fire protection.
Everything for nothing seems to be the Republican motto. Someday it will all come crashing down like the bridge did in Minneapolis. I worked near that bridge and, having walked underneath it often, I knew what the underside looked like. I wasn't surprised when it fell and I won't be surprised when more failures happen. It is the inevitable future given the choices being made today.
20
The infrastructure problem isn't so much a matter of raising taxes as it is increasing wages. As inflation rises and wages remain stagnant, the money generated from taxes is losing value, so it doesn't pay for as much as it used to. In the face of infrastructure failure, the first instinct of most lawmakers is to increase taxes. However, by increasing wages, more money would come out of existing taxes without actually increasing them. It's simple math. The higher our income, the more we spend, the more is generated from taxation.
4
Welcome to the Republican low tax, low services future.
The rich can afford a private road, the rest of need government. Wisconsin used to understand that. Blue states still do.
10
Not feeling very sorry for these rural folks. Have been reading quite a bit about their values and such. They vote Republican and don't want to pay taxes for new roads yet take advantage of the safety nets put in place by Democrats. They vote base on religious beliefs, but this is a country where church and state are supposed to be separate. Maybe thoughts and prayers will help fix their roads.
21
Infrastructure jobs can't be exported.
2
Wait. Roads not paved since 1960s? Why hasn't Trump put them at the head of the line? What happened to the infrastructure projects. I guess he's too busy pardoning criminals, attacking federal prosecutors and judges, and dismantling the rule of law.
8
Smaller trucks? Too obvious, I guess.
3
A perfect storm gathers.
1. Federal Gasoline Tax was never indexed for inflation. It was last raised in 1993 and has lost 1/3 of its buying power to inflation.
2. The 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act set a max weight of 73,280 pounds.
3. The 1974 Amendments to the 1956 Act raised the max weight of trucks to 80,000 pounds, an increase of 9%, but Congress did nothing to cover the cost of increased wear and tear.
4. Historically, Congress viewed trucks and railroads as separate and mutually exclusive modes. It maintained this for many years, funding highways that put many railroads into bankruptcy. Not until recent years has Congress seen fit to help finance railroad construction as a way to avoid the costs of adding highway lanes.
5. Congressional mismanagement of transportation is historical and harms us to this day. So-called "free markets" with laissez-faire bare knuckle capitalism is a self-devouring beast. Lack of infrastructure cripples us in a global economy and we can rest assured that numerous foreign-spawned anti-tax, anti-government websites labor to keep us perpetually bickering in gridlock; meanwhile China spends billions developing a global infrastructure to further their economy -- the true source of global power.
6. To cut taxes is to cut our own throat, no matter what Kudlow says.
7. To this day, we do not have a National Transportation Plan.
Federal truck size and weight limits:
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/tswstudy/Vol2-Chapter2.pdf
14
I thought for sure I had voted for Infrastructure WEAK. My heavens, by all the comments here I guess I really voted for infrastructure Week. Shoot.
1
"Government is the problem. We need less government". Repeat as necessary.
3
Isn't it the country folk who are always telling us city slickers that we lack common sense? Well, how about one of these farmers explain why they are running vehicles far too large for the tax-payer owned and funded roads they run them on? Do they plan to reimburse all the city slickers who never use their roads but still must pay for the wear and tear imposed upon them by oversized farm vehicles? Do they plan to reimburse victims of the accidents they cause?
9
@Will All good questions, especially since, as I noted earlier, Trempealeau County doesn't charge for its "Implements of Husbandry" (read: farm machinery) permit for county roads:
http://www.tremplocounty.com/tchome/highway/documents/Implements%20of%20Husbandry%20COUNTY.pdf
3
Thanks to better than predicted revenue collections, Wisconsin will have $450 million more than expected at the end of the current biennium. Our gerrymandered Republican majority has decided a tax cut -- $106 per taxpayer -- is the way to go. Never any discussion to invest the money in our crumbling roads or cash-strapped schools. At what point do these Republicans realize they are living in a state that is falling apart? For what, the cost of a fancy dinner out or a few trips with the family to Culver's?
12
Trempealeau county used to vote Democratic, but like a lot of rural areas, it has now gone all in on Trump and former governor Scott Walker. Walker and the Republicans spent 8 years systematically gutting the state's education and infrastructure. This is the logical result. Elections have consequences. If you vote for politicians who say they don't like government, this is what you get.
16
Used to ride motorcycle in Wisc. NO police, and we broke the speed limit on a minute to minute basis... Trempealeau county was one of the areas frequented, - the roads were motorcycle friendly - they looked as though the local cow paths had merely been "paved" - and at the time for the traffic load, seemed adequate, but I would guess the ever heavier farm machinery is WAY past what was anticipated, and that and winter weather....
A fun road - good food at small town eateries - what more could one wish for?...
I hate to be mean-spirited, but $60-$80 million in a county with a population of 29,000 amounts to $2,000-$2,760 per person. I would suspect that the federal, state and local tax burden in non-rural counties amounts to more than that per person over what those living in the rural counties "contribute". Sometimes you DO get what you pay for.
4
@Laura
Suspect?
Maybe we should redirect some of the millions in federal subsidy dollars the farmers receive to fix the roads.
9
The farmers in Wisconsin pay no gas tax and much reduced property taxes compared to all others. Farm machinery drives on the roads. The Republican utopia we have had live in means bads roads and the lowest nursing home reimbursement in the nation. Wisconsin is trying to turn into Mississippi- lousy education/government services and winning football.
10
@mhuepfel
Before Wis becomes like Miss it has to have its prisoners murdering each other about every week because its prisons are starved of money for guards.
Tax cuts don't pave roads.
7
The last line sums it up. They don't want taxes but want all the benefits of government. Farmers here in Iowa get by with extreme farming tax breaks, including gas tax exemptions, meaning the larger municipalities are paying for the farmers and rural infrastructure. Yet they dominate the legislative agenda. I hate being in a state dominated by rural interests.
11
I study roads and road building in Central America, and we are in the same position they are. Automobile infrastructure is highly effective for mobility, but its outrageously expensive to build and maintain. Many roads in Central America were built with US funds and foreign loans, and many nations could not afford to maintain them from day 1. It is arguable we have overbuilt, but we keep building more. When you can't keep roads and bridges safe or even open to traffic without piling on more local and federal debt, you've created a world too big to sustain. Rail remains a better answer, which is why many nations in Europe move people and goods, including farm products, far cheaper than we do.
4
Most counties in Wisconsin use their urban tax base to subsidize the rural roads in the county. While both rural and urban residents pay county taxes, counties rarely maintain and replace roads in the urban areas, instead they let the cities pay for it out of their own tax levy, while often times covering the full costs for the rural roadways. In counties like Trempealeau County, where there is no large urban population to subsidize the rural roads, the aging infrastructure tends to be much worse as the county has to pay for everyone's roadways.
3
Not to worry, folks. The Administration has announced that Infrastructure Week is next week.
5
"Throughout the Midwest and South, the rural transportation system is crumbling. "
Throughout the Midwest and South, they vote GOP.
Throughout the Midwest and South, nothing gets better.
Cause and effect.
13
I love the Wisconsin countryside, especially the driftless area that includes Tempeleau County and the county to the north, Buffalo County. I know the roads there as well as any outsider who lives 1500 miles away. My wife came from Alma in Buffalo County and I have ridden by bicycle across Wisconsin 3 times. My father in law was one of those rural dairy farmers until an accident made it impossible for him to continue. Paul Soglin, whose comment I see here, was mayor when I was a grad student in Madison.
So, I start with a lot of possitive feelings. But ... These same rural people voted in a bunch of Republican legislators who refuse to allow a small gas tax increase to help solve the problem. The Rs have rigged the electoral map so badly that they cannot lose the legislature unless about 60% of people vote against them. They have even made it illegal to register voters. My wife’s cousin was a volunteer voter registrar, but that’s no longer legal. The Rs have no limits to how far they will go to retain power.
They need new roads, but will they tax themselves to pay for them? Nope, can’t possibly raise their own taxes. Who do they expect to pay then? Why, the residents of Madison and Milwaukee of course! And these rural counties played an outsize role in putting a truly vile human being into the White House.
I am absolutely sick and tired of rural people voting for republicans but wanting everyone else to support their infrastucture.
24
A great report- but I am surprised to read no mention of the damage by fracking trucks. their water, chemical and waste transports have created congestion, and much wear on formerly quiet roads. Why are they not charged for the infrastructure they (ab)use?
And why are we throwing money (and lives) in the bottomless pit of foreign wars and national walls?
7
Keep voting R for lower taxes then.
It's not like you're not paying for the broken axles, wrecked suspension systems, or busted tires though.
Or the inconvenience of emergency closings and weight limits, the difficulty moving equipment from one field to another.
But y'all keep being y'all, voting for the same R politicians and then whining about the lack of this and that.
MAGA!
10
Really, the Times should launch a Times Midwest edition. So many local papers have gone under and then reporting like this could find a local audience that it might inform. Because, I'm sure everyone reading this is aware the people voting for lower taxes have no more services left. It's time they read about it and not the rest of us.
9
Pretty simple fix: stop voting Republican.
8
Everywhere road maintenance is the responsibility of those who use those roads. If you don’t want to spend your money on roads and bridges, then fine, but please don’t expect someone else to pay for this expense so you can maintain your profits. Road and bridge maintenance is part of doing business, it’s that simple. Look to thine self.
4
The infrastructure of the entire country is crumbling, not just the south!
1
time to yell and scream at congress.....
But hey, trump country, how 'bout them illegals?
And what about that wall Mexico's supposed to pay for?
Imagine if just a portion of that $20 BILLION went to roads and infrastructure!
You did it to yourselves, MAGA right?
(Oh yeah, BENGHAZI! Emails!)
11
Another Republican no taxes, no services, no regulations, no infrastructure, business is everything, paradise.
Fools who vote for Republican crooks and liars get everything that's coming to them.
8
Last week on 60 Minutes, there was a segment on UHPC (Ultra-High Performance Concrete), which lasts longer, is almosrt impervious to water seepage, is much stronger, ... But it costs about ten times as much as is the concrete currently used for road surfacing. But research is ongoing, and the cost is expected to reduce in time.
A farmer in the area was all for using such new materials, as he currently experiences problems with his heavy farm equipment negotiating poor roads.
The same gets multiplied all over the country, in rural and urban situations, with increasingly wider, heavier, and longer trucks and other heavy machinery. Even the current crop of compact cars is chubbier and heavier than those of a decade ago. The need for improving roads is theer, everywhere.
But let someone propose a gas tax of say a dime! There will be an uproar. Even moderate democrats may demur. And Trump will have a whale of a time castigating such proposals. And the deplorables turn for him in droves.
As I see in another comment here, "we are all in this together", a concept that appears to be accepted in the abstract, but rarely agreed to in any specific situation.
4
Our Republican Dominated State adds an extra $50 a year to our car registration as punishment for owning a hybrid. Yes, our Prius goes more miles than the average car on a gallon of gas. So we pay less gas tax for the number of miles driven. But our car is lighter so we do less damage to the road.
6
I come from one of those small, dumb towns that builds sewers, and water supply systems; buries those pipes under the roadbed; tops them with 8"-12" of reinforced concrete and tops that with 2" of asphalt.
And has a policy of resurfacing those roads on a regular (though not entirely adequate) basis.
But we're just dumb city slickers here in New York. After all, we're so dumb that we named the city twice, New York, New York!
But we pay our taxes.
We paid to build our water supply system with our own money (unlike some places what get water from vast federal projects). And our system only holds 2-3 years supply of water.
We certainly are fools since we send far more money to Washington (and to rural hill bliiies) that we get back.
Heck, they won't even give us a few billion dollars for a rail tunnel that could keep the entire national economy from falling into a recession.
But we're just dumb New York liberals who pay our share - and yours.
8
Your grandparents paid to build those roads. But you’d rather let them fall apart than invest in your children’s future. The height of selfishness.
11
Maybe next time you should vote for a political party that will put your tax dollars towards infrastructure instead of an easily defeated southern wall, an already cash-rich military, and golf trips to Mara-Lago.
7
Outsource the cost for the damage your business does to society to the taxpayer. Then sit back, admire yourself, pay yourself $25 million a year, and let the American taxpayer subsidize the company you so proudly call “Capitalism Inc.”
4
This is what happens when you refuse to pay local taxes. When you think federal money is "free money". When you don't realize it comes from the pockets of AMERICANS paying taxes to support you while you vow to murder them.
3
Keep voting for bloated defense budgets and subsidies for the already wealthy while moaning that your taxes are too high and this is what you get. Bet a lot of road works could be done for the cost of one aircraft carrier, one nuclear submarine, a few F-35s and a Space Force or two.
3
Why pay taxes when you can rely on the tax money from CA, NY, NJ, MA, and other blue states.
10
i live in the northern half of vermont and the roads are the worst i have ever seen and they are not always great to begin with. get off the interstate and you have to keep a sharp eye straight down on the road and drive it like a slalom course around the potholes and huge ctacks. the weather here is a major factor in this but the state is not keeping up and federal funds are constantly being cut......one word i don't hear any of the candidate anywhere saying is INFRASTRUCTURE. trump used it all the time in 2016. now not a peep and US roads and bridges are becoming undriveable. not to say falling behind the rest of the world in transportation in general. a sad state no matter which one you live in.
2
Trempeleau county voted RED in 2016. Call their man and ask him for help about it.
5
The county roads in Iowa look identical to the photos shown here in Wisconsin. Vote out Republicans in 2020.
3
The farmers have given the thumbs up to republicans who continue to give tax breaks to the wealthy. You just can't feel sorry for their plight in Wisconsin. They are cutting their own throats by imagining taxes don't pay for things like roads and bridges and schools and garbage pickup and water and sewer and all those things they love to hate because they don't like regulation and hate to pay taxes. Oh well! My bet is they will vote republican again in America's Scairy Land.
6
Hey, farmers who support Trump!
Imagine the new roads and bridges that could have been built with the billions Trump and his Republican Senators are spending on a stupid wall!
Very much like the people who say, NIMBY,
" Not in my backyard."
They want new roads, shopping centers, and easy movement, but not close to their property.
6
It's pretty easy increase the gas tax. Gas is really cheap now.
3
We live in a rural area. Our house is about 30 ft from a narrow country road that is frequently used by heavy agricultural vehicles (harvesters, etc.) servicing a farm down the road. Yes, they rip up the road like nobody's business. Yes, worse than that, they barrel down the road at breakneck speeds (40-50 mph) in a 25 mph speed zone. While small children are playing out there... But, of course, I sympathize with frustrations about poorly maintained roads. However, we all pay for road maintenance due to 'normal' wear and tear. In my opinion, abnormal excessive wear and tear due to heavy agricultural equipment does not fall in the normal wear and tear category. Farmers should pay extra for that; part of the cost of doing business.
3
What I noticed missing in the article is that over the last 20 years, Trempeleau County ( and other parts of the state) have has been “open for business” to frac-sand mining and factory farms of thousands of animals. Our legislature passed laws that disallow local or county governments from bonding or charging these corporate entities any fees for the constant hauling of sand, feed, milk and manure.
The sooner we start protecting ourselves instead of these bad neighbors and pocket legislators, the better.
7
No one will have anything to complain about once anyone takes a drive on NYC's FDR Drive. Rural America, you haven't seen nothing yet.
3
Wisconsin's rural roads are in terrible condition.
-(8) years of republican government gave us that.
-Rural Wisconsin also has limits on internet connectivity.
-Can you imagine trying to run a business ( farming & others ) or household without the internet?
-Where is Trump's " Infrastructure Bill "? ( Saving it for 2021 ??)
5
Republicans suffer from what I call is the "Joe the Plumber" Syndrome. Remember the "plumber" who accosted Obama in Ohio for taxing people (and implying himself) making $250k+? Turns out he was neither a plumber nor made anywhere close to 250K but he was still bothered by it. He was turned into a tax stopping hero by the GOP. Go figure? Since many Republican voters are only HS educated chances are they would not pay a heavy tax burden but they are still against the T word. You either get used to bad roads and infrastructure or bite the bullet and reduce needless spending on Walls and expensive weapons which are never used. Otherwise get ready to ride that bumpy road to nowhere.
2
As a township supervisor for 22 years in PA I’ve seen it all before.... “we want services and we don’t want to pay for them!”
2
That is what taxes and tolls are for. Can’t have your cake and eat it too, yet that is precisely what a lot of the people who extoll self-sufficiency and disdain government (for all those ‘freeloaders’) want.
3
Rural America by and large supports the policies that bring them poor services and lousy roads.
2
I’ve driven across country numerous times (more than 50) and it always seems the truck weighing stations are closed. Trucks routinely run above the allowable gross weights allowed. If caught they are probably given a modest fine, instead of being forced to reduce their load. Those weight restrictions are in place for a reason.
4
I've wondered why, as a society, we're so eager to spend trillions of borrowed dollars on unwinnable wars halfway around the world, and so reluctant to spend on infrastructure here at home where it would actually benefit us.
5
I'm from rural northern Wisconsin and I disagree that we don't want to pay for our roads. Our local town was able to add a small percentage to our sales tax specifically to pay for roads. We were only able to do that because we are designated a tourist community. Governor Evers ran on improving roads, unfortunately our gerrymandered legislature won't let him pass needed tax increases. Most people I talk to are OK with a modest increase in the gasoline tax.
6
Sounds like they are wanting some more of that rural welfare/urban wealth transfer they have been receiving, for roads, schools, health care, agarian related bussiness, etc., they have been receiving for over a century.
Basically, the original Wisconsin Town Road System was built and of course paid for by disproportionate taxation of the urban areas, in the first and second decade of the 20th century.
Welcome to rural Wisconsin, where moo-ching is fundamental (into perpaetuity).
3
We are a haven for Capitalists. Any good Capitalist knows there is more profit in new development than in maintenance. If you want maintained infrastructure, elect a socialist. I have one in mind.
5
Driving across country you can tell which political party runs the state by how the condition of the road changes at the state line. If it suddenly becomes bumpy and in disrepair I guarantee you in a republican controlled state.
4
Are these the same farmers that are getting a federal bailout because they can’t sell their soybeans to China?
6
In America we like our roads smooth and our taxes low. Unfortunately, we cannot have it both ways. We have a choice to make. Politicians on both sides have been kicking the can down the road (let's not forget our responsibility: again, we like our taxes low) and the result is (to cite a few) crumbling roads in rural Wisconsin, falling bridges in Minnesota, and exploding water mains and a subway system falling apart in NYC after decades of neglect. We are just getting what we asked for.
7
Same old story. Republican controlled government = pain for the middle and lower classes. Yet every election they get voted back in. Can't really blame the Republican politicians. It's not their fault. if your community is hurting, and it is under Republican leadership, look in the mirror and say "have I had enough yet?", if so, either move or vote differently. Do not complain if you keep voting for the same party that is causing you pain.... Doesn't matter if they're Democrats, Republicans, or whatever they call themselves.
7
Other than certain interstate and federal roadways, which are mostly highways and interstates, and supporting bridges.....
Road repair, construction, and augmentation is under local government control and funding. Yes.. in many cases grants flow downward from Federal and State sources, but local governments (read: County, city, town) must submit approved plans to receive said grants and then must perform to those plans.
FACT: infrastructure management at the local level is in many local communities extremely poorly managed and administered.
4
Seems apt that the farmers pay the price. They’re driving the heavy loads, they’re driving the trucks and SUVs. They’re also voting in GOP who will say no to raising a gas tax to fix the roads while giving money away to billion dollar conglomerates. So, the pain will continue.
7
Germany is not a paradise but if you want to see investment in road/bridge/tunnel infrastructure then here is a good place to look. Nothing is perfect but they do seem to have the culture that mandates road repair and updating within specific life-cycles even if there are no visible defects. This includes guardrails. In fact, there are so many roads being repaired at any one time that the traffic jams they create drive people crazy but when they are done, what a pleasure to drive on.
3
The rural roads crisis?
Why is it a "crisis"?
Just fix the roads.
2
yep another post from wisconsin....When the Times mentions your state it rarely is good news. But it is true. The roads have been neglected here for years and years. From what i have been told, the local Costco has one of the busiest tire departments in the chain. Its not because we are cruising at high speeds. Local control is no longer a thing. The Wisconsin gop has shifted authority to the state, they give a tiny tax cut so they can claim fiscal responsibility and nothing ever gets fixed.
Our roads are a joke and keep getting worse.
6
It does strike me as ironic that some of these farmers who support Trump and his tariff trade wars received 18 billion tax payer dollars in direct relief (from policies that damage their industry!) yet, complain about having to pay for the local roads they use. Talk about wanting your cake and eating it too.
9
I guess that 'infrastructure week' hasn't worked out for this red state.
7
I live in Danbury CT and 2 years ago I destroyed a tire and wheel on a pot hole big enough to contain a basket ball . My cost was over $600.00. When I called town hall they said take us to small claims court! There was a time when you could expect some amount of compensation...now nothing but arrogance
5
We don’t have to go to rural areas to see that our public roads are a mess. Are you listening, Gov. Cuomo?
4
And then NY will try to fix them and New Yorkers will rant about road closures and traffic jams. What’s the solution?
1
Who would think the good conservatives of Wisconsin want something for nothing?
The closing paragraphs are all you need to read.
7
This is an example of a principle that applies not just to roads, but healthcare, education, environmental protection and hosts of other issues that are routinely derided/neglected and n favor of graft and/or billionaire tax cuts.
The principle is that we are GOING to pay for things whether we like it or not. The only question is whether we pay a large amount now... or a ruinous amount later. Regardless, there is no plausible future in which we do not pay at all.
Don’t want to pay for someone else’s healthcare? Tough. So long as ambulances run, we will all pay, but in far larger amounts than if every citizen was provided with non-emergency care.
Don’t want to pay for roads? Tough. That’s choosing to pay the larger costs of lost productivity, damaged vehicles, injuries, etc.
Don’t want to pay to keep the environment livable? Tough. We are already starting to pay a blood tithe as the water is fouled, fires rage year-round and flood waters rise.
Don’t want to invest in public education? Tough. That’s a choice to pay the larger costs of an uneducated (or inadequately educated) work force struggling to survive in a modern world. We pay in the form of millions “left behind” in mines and factories without hope; losing themselves to addiction (see healthcare again) or the ravings of a bigoted lunatic like Trump.
Spending tax dollars for the general welfare is not “waste.” It’s a necessary investment.
19
The Zoo Interchange in Milwaukee cost nearly $2 BILLION. Wisconsin does not need more money for its roads. All states do not need more money for their roads. States and the Federal Government need to prioritize maintenance over road expansion. It would solve this problem pretty quickly.
They refuse to pay for their roads. Let them return to gravel. This is simple.
5
Same in Ohio. Potholes, bridges out, roads washed away. Higher property taxes due to federal cuts in state and local budgets. Keep America Great???? How about investing in infrastructure!
7
Apparently the good people of rural Wisconsin are expecting the Tooth Fairy to pay for their roads.
10
Sounds to me as though these rural folks are asking for "free stuff."
No, wait. It's the urban poor who want "free stuff."
Got that wrong, I guess.
16
Yet these same rural voters would rather our government spend billions on a worthless border wall than offer infrastructure support to communities like theirs.
16
Is it time for Infrastructure Week again?
5
The people who sold voters on the idea that they could get unending tax cuts are destroying their states.
9
..yet we have endless sums of money to allocate to endless wars?
5
I can't begin to count the number of conversations I've had with my family in Wisconsin about the crumbling roads. And every time we discuss how we've gotten to this state of crumbling infrastructure they just bury their heads in the sand, plug their ears, and shout la la la la, as if there was no way to predict this would be the outcome of Republican laws under Walker. If you want nice things you have to pay for it.
323
@Megan
I did not realize that Walker was in power since the 1960s.
3
@QED, You're correct concerning Walker. Who and what has been in charge is the mythology of rural people, being self-reliant, community and family-oriented people, never asking for a handout.
If they were truly self-reliant, community and family-oriented people they would be re-building their own transportation infrastructure, working together and having their young giving back to their community through the sweat of their brow. But, the fact of the matter is that most of their children have left for the cities as fast as they could, with many of the young people left in town, doing their opiates, while these cheese crackers run off the young migrant familes. Then, with all of the straight-faced audicity they can muster, complain about the people in cities, who happen to include their children, while demanding the people in the cities, provide their aging rural populations, with free health care, via Medicaid and Medicare, plus the funding of the health care infrastructure they lack, which provides their free health care.
Basically, they just need quit having their crying pity party and actually take care of their own in the manner, they so like to sanctimoniously, expound upon in their mythology.
40
Frankly it's not a culture change that's needed, but the death of the something-for-nothing Boomer generation. I remember having to testify on a bill before the Texas legislature in 2011. The halls were thick with aging Tea Partiers there to try and gut toll road funding and toll way authorities. They had three demands: 1.) freeways; 2.) more freeways; and 3.) no tax increases. They saw absolutely no contradiction in those demands. They got what they wanted, which meant that the state started reconverting rural black top to dirt to save on maintenance costs. Freeways aren't free, but for Texas' right wing Republican majority, they're entitled to them and by golly that's all that matters.
12
In Texas we have private toll roads. Get some private toll road company to pave the set up tolls these companies set their own price btw. Supply side at its finest. See how this flies. From wiki:
The toll roads in Central Texas are governed through the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA), which is stated to be the creating agency for transportation models to keep up with today's population growth. to promote future road construction which is to alleviate traffic issues within Travis and Williamson Counties[4] Texas is one of few states that has allowed private toll roads... I hate these roads, but i'm sorta of a socialist.
3
Wisconsin chose many years ago to pave most, if no all, of their county roads. Most states leave their county and township roads as gravel. Doing so tends to keep maintenance costs lower. In some cases, states as Washington minimize county ownership of roads forcing many rural roads to be private. This is often the case in eastern Washington where roads are gravel. In doing so, such roads are maintained by cooperating landowners. Typical annual costs are $200. Each 12 cubic yard load of road/driveway mix of gray rock runs about $200-250 per truckload.
2
In the UK we pay vehicle (formerly road) tax, each vehicle is taxed according to CO2 emissions - does this happen in the US? So a car with low emissions i.e. electric pays nothing, and huge trucks would pay thousands a year. Diesel pay more than petrol engines.
It no longer pays directly for roads, but goes into the general tax pot, and therefore if you're in a rural area everyone in the UK would be paying in to keep the roads maintained. I think your income tax rates are similar to ours.
I know rural roads were an issue here when I was a child, but it seems that things have improved and most roads are decent. Others may disagree, but I wonder if it does help?Doesn't seem right that locals face tax hikes when stuff is worn out.
2
@LondonChica No, the U.S. does not have any sort of fuel-use tax based on emissions at current. But we probably should!
2
The solution is simple stop spending 740 Billion annually on the military and building a wall people can climb over or cut.
11
There are only two ways to fix this.
1. Taxes. The people that live and /or work in a given city, county, or state pay taxes that then provide a public good: roads.
OR
2. People can pay to have the road in front of their house or farm or business paved.
These are really the only two options. So if you do not want to pay for paved roads, then you can drive on unpaved roads.
When Kevin Falconer was elected Mayor in San Diego the first thing he did was go all out repaving the roads. I said at the time, just a few months into his first term. "Well he just got himself re-elected." And of course he was re-elected. Why do the people of the rural mid-west continue to vote for people that do not serve their interests? Raise taxes, pave the roads.
In case anyone forgets, the people of CA voted to increase our taxes and the economy has improved, more jobs etc.
13
About five years ago I saw a news snippet of Elizabeth Warren explaining all of the salient points of this article to potential voters. I was thrilled that someone recognized the problem, saw a solution and wanted to make it work.
To act, to actually do critical and important things, an honorable can President strive to unite and energize us - and these days we need inspiration desperately.
7
Thirty years ago,I went to Wabash College in Crawfordsville, in Montgomery county in Indiana. In 1975, most pf the roads a couple miles out of town were covered with gravel. By 1985, nearly every road had been paved. I wondered how the state, county, & the Federal government could afford this extravagance? There wasn't anything wrong with gravel, it held up well. In a 5 mile stretch, there might have been 7 homes. Those that wanted less dust, could pave he road in front of the house. Now these roads need maintenance and upkeep. Another read why the Law of Unintended Consequences so often turns out to be true. Steven Pettinga Indianapolis
2
the last 2 sentences say it all... i realize farmers are a fundamental part of our economy and culture, but they are also businesses. if they need better roads to make a profit using their giant machinery, then they should pay for them. this goes for all commercial endeavors. transportation is a fixed cost in business, and maintaining roads, rails and waterways should be included in those costs.
8
With the modernization of agriculture/farming, roads to markets have not improved since the 1960's. I have mixed feelings. Born in the early 1950's in rural VT, farm machinery and trucks (stake beds, small tankers) to deliver to market were much smaller than they are today. If a legal loaded semi can produce 5000-10000 times the road damage as a car, and 40 ton semis are the modern method of delivering goods from farm to producer, why aren't agricultural producers paying their fair share to upgrade the roads to their needs? I live in impoverished SE Utah, where the only roads maintained by the County, are those where they can be reimbursed for maintenance. Wheat growers routinely fill semis and run them down the 15 miles of oil and graveled County road, I use for access. The County has suspended any repair of this road, instead periodically sending a gentleman with a pickup load of gravel and a shovel to fill the potholes. This deteriorating road will be a gravel surface before the end of the year, effectively penalizes the non-agricultural residents of this road, who outnumber the farmers 10 to 1. Rather than focus on the County and public-owned roads, the County has wasted millions pursuing an 1866 R.S. 2477 claims of right of way on federal government land goat trails, and claiming rights of way on private access roads they will never maintain. I'm sure there are roads needing legitimate concerns, but there are also roads deteriorating due to gross mismanagement.
5
With the modernization of agriculture/farming, roads to markets have not improved since the 1960's. I have mixed feelings. Born in the early 1950's in rural VT, farm machinery and trucks (stake beds, small tankers) to deliver to market were much smaller than they are today. If a legal loaded semi can produce 5000-10000 times the road damage as a car, and 40 ton semis are the modern method of delivering goods from farm to producer, why aren't agricultural producers paying their fair share to upgrade the roads to their needs? I live in impoverished SE Utah, where the only roads maintained by the County, are those where they can be reimbursed for maintenance. Wheat growers routinely fill semis and run them down the 15 miles of oil and graveled County road, I use for access. The County has suspended any repair of this road, instead periodically sending a gentleman with a pickup load of gravel and a shovel to fill the potholes. This deteriorating road will be a gravel surface before the end of the year, effectively penalizes the non-agricultural residents of this road, who outnumber the farmers 10 to 1. Rather than focus on the County and public-owned roads, the County has wasted millions pursuing an 1866 R.S. 2477 claims of right of way on federal government land goat trails, and claiming rights of way on private access roads they will never maintain. I'm sure there are roads needing legitimate concerns, but there are also roads deteriorating due to gross mismanagement.
When local, state and federal governments use tax money to build and maintain roads and bridges, it’s socialism pure and simple. Perhaps the true capitalists would prefer that we go back to the good old days (when America was great) when a rich landowner built a stretch of road or a rickety bridge, put up a gate, and hired a guy with a gun to collect an exorbitant toll that few could afford. This “ new” system could spur so much entrepreneurship that it would certainly make America great again.
5
Low taxes cost businesses and individuals more money than they save. Yet Republicans continue the fraud. Democrats are also guilty of adding programs and then kind of getting distracted when it comes to some of the bill-paying that is then due.
And it is the fault of all of us taxpayers, who allow ourselves to think that things built on the public dime somehow don't need the same ongoing maintenance expense our homes do, and cars do.
Everything built starts falling apart immediately. If we want things, we have to stop lying to ourselves that once we buy it, we have just begun the required ongoing spending for it.
"“I get people calling me and screaming at me all the time,” Mr. Rinka said. “In 10 years, we’re going to start turning roads back into gravel” if nothing changes."
In Omaha they already did turn some roads back to gravel. It "saves" taxpayers money. By transferring costs to the people who spend extra every year on suspension and windshield repairs, extra dust in and around their homes and all the joy of driving roads that get muddy, or can't be properly plowed in winter, or all the other luxuries.
So, folks, we all have to pony up. It will save us in the long run.
Re-work the federal transportation taxes so fueled and electric vehicles all pay fair shares, because EVs are coming. Rework federal and state transportation funding so rural and urban travel is properly supported - and so that transit systems are funded to take some of the pressure off of roads.
3
As a person who has lived in rural areas of three states, I can relate to the issue of poor infrastructure. However, much of the problem is related to the residents of those areas, and many of those residents are farmers big and small. Invariably when votes come up for tax increases for infrastructure or education the increases are voted down. I don’t have much empathy for those whining about roads if they won’t vote to fund them.
10
The price of cars should reflect their true, full cost: during manufacture, to the environment, to the communities split by expressways, etc. Then taxed accordingly, with money used to pay for the damage they wreak.
7
I always find it ironic how rural folks seem so anti taxation and all, yet are the first to complain about roads, schools, policing, and the like. It costs money to provide these necessities, and more so in rural areas.
By that logic you should be willing to pony up a little coin.
18
I’ve been on these rural Wisconsin roads- all marked by letters or double letters. It is incredibly picturesque- but they are in terrible shape. If the entire state pitched in a nickel per gallon of gas more I suspect funding would be viable. A nickel a gallon for roads vs thousands for a new axle. Can’t that be framed in a palatable way?
3
@JWB
We've got the same problem here in Tenn. Lots of roads would jar your teeth loose, especially here in west Tenn with all the trucks from Fedex and other companies hauling stuff. Legislature won't raise gas tax because their constituents don't want that, as my state rep told me.
1
Speaking for Illinois, the "blue collar" unionized workers who build the roads and vote for Trump are part of the problem too. Somehow their salaries can be quite high, and getting good raises with each contract, without increasing taxes. How does that work? Maybe they should be building private roads for only some drivers?
As with the labor unions in Nevada protesting Medicare for All--every American, no matter race, ethnicity, gender, political leanings, job--structures their lives by "what is the best for me only." It is who America is. It's only when that changes can we be something closer to "great."
3
As the road commissioner predicted , next are gravel roads. When the gravel is gone, dirt/mud, then they can put down logs to create "corduroy roads" as they did in the 17th/ 18th century. In those days each land owner was responsible to maintain the roads by his property. Mr. Rinke didn't mention what could replace collapsed bridges. Ferries could not handle huge trucks loaded with beans. Maybe farmers could revert to horse drawn wagons.
MAGA!
9
The Republican Party has been in charge of Wisconsin's state government for many years. That party's administration has determined to limit spending so it can keep a promise to stop tax increases. This approach means the government cannot continue the maintenance of its infrastructure. If Wisconsin wants better roads and better management of its infrastructure, then it should elect a new governor and legislature that has a different political philosophy.
7
@John We did! The GOP-controlled legislature keeps shutting him down.
In 2016, a majority of voters in this county voted to elect Donald Trump president and Ron Johnson US Senator.
Sorry, but it’s hard to find any sympathy for either them or their roads.
12
The last sentence/paragraph of this piece sums it all up: Americans will beg, scream, and shout for any- and everything they believe is their God-given right as American citizens, but then they'll turn around and refuse to consider paying for any of it themselves in the forms of increased fees and taxes - in many American minds, it always seems that whatever it is, it has to be somebody else's responsibility.
7
If "A legally loaded semi-trailer truck can produce 5,000 to 10,000 times the road damage of one car according to some estimates" then let's start charging them 5,000 to 10,000 times the road tax that a single car pays. It is time to stop subsidizing other people's businesses. I'd like to hear some discussion of this idea. Any other proposals? Fair is fair.
5
@DLST
There is no "road tax" though there is a gas tax. The problem with your suggestion is that the gas taxed isn't necessarily bought in the area where the damage is being done. Truckers are smart about costs and will buy in lower cost areas.
2
The people of Wisconsin, who voted in Scott Walker for years, are to thank for their roads; they voted what they wanted. Now good luck to them as the state's infrastructure goes bad beyond repair from the Walker years of neglect. These same people still vote GOP.
12
Here's proof that Wisconsin has no interest in road repairs: A large budget surplus has been predicted for 2020. The Republicans propose to spend it on tax cuts and the Democrats propose to spend it on education. Roads are not part of the discussion.
11
@MJR To be fair, America's schools might arguably be in worse shape than our roads!
3
In rural Georgia everybody hates taxes, dodges taxes, registers into the “Conservation” and pays next to nothing in taxes. When I do the math it’s clear to me that rural America never paid for their roads in the first place, the tax receipts are not and never have been there. Also, I’m estimating that more 60% inherited the land, house and other property they reside on (economic privilege?). Let’s not forget the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 brought electricity to rural America at the expense of the high population centers. Honestly, I understand the value of investing in American rural communities however I’m tired of the entitlement voices that emanate from there. I would not object to forcing a different tax distribution scheme to send the message that rural America is very privileged and perhaps should step up and pay their own way.
20
During WW2, then General in command, Dwight Eisenhower took in how important transportation was to not only the backbone of the military, but of the communities in general. Yes, Europe had a historical jump on the United States in road infrastructure - in many ways - it still does. The massive investment in transportation infrastructure in the 50s is one of the primary factors that led to the economic gains of that time period.
Now much of the US road infrastructure is hundreds of billions - if not trillions - of dollars out of date.
This however creates an opportunity. Like Eisenhower, we have a chance to stand back and figure out what kind of infrastructure should we build for the remainder of this and next century,
It is highly likely that autonomous vehicles - particularly transport vehicles- will be used to bring product from rural areas to urban markets.
We should consider how this opportunity could transform rural America - and invest appropriately.
148
@Marston Gould
Agree. People need to realize that government spending is not setting cash on fire, never to be seen again. Government spending pays manufacturers who make the paving equipment and pays the workers who operate the equipment. These people in turn spend their incomes to purchase goods and services from businesses that pay workers who use the roads to get to work. We are all in this together, whether the extreme partisans like it or not.
249
@TDD But that all depends on how that money is spent, and building a useless wall and spending even more on our bloated military budget is the same as "setting cash on fire".
42
@Marston Gould the sole purpose of the highway system in America, both interstate and local, is to allow the military to be mobile in order to pacify the general population. Commerce, communication, tourism, and visiting Mom & Pop, are all extremely minor priorities compared to rural and urban pacification.
4
State and county roads are the responsibility of the state and county. Federal funds directed to border security and defense are excessive, but should not be re-directed to local infrastructure.
Trump has nothing to do with this. Rural communities asked for this by electing tax averse legislatures and local officials.
7
@Karl In all kinds of municipalities, large and small, federal funds help those states, counties, and cities pay for infrastructure improvements. If those improvements were left entirely up to the municipalities to pay to maintain those roads, they'd be in even worse shape! The federal government has a role to play and to say otherwise doesn't make any sense.
Your second comment does, however, make completel sense: the deterioration in America's rural infrastructure (as well as in urban areas) is due to 40-50 years of anti-tax policy that the GOP adopted during Reagan.
10
In California, the home of Democrats and progressives, you will see the exact same road and infrastructure decay that began in the 90’s. In my city of Oakland, which I label Failed in every way, there are crumbled curbs with literally fist-sized chunks of cement in the gutters of many streets, while the much-patched potholes run together like crazy paving. Our taxes are 9.25%.
So it isn’t just republican tax policies, folks. We are looking at failed leadership and policies spanning a generation or more and at both the state and federal level. I really don’t want to put so much into this planet-destroying transport system, but until we come up with another plan, this willful neglect is just plain wrong.
70
@mltrueblood
False. Roads are funded at the State and Federal level and for the last 25 years Republics have controlled both or one of those funding resources. Right Wing policies are the reason America is falling apart and that is not in dispute.
55
@mltrueblood
I agree that the streets in Oakland are in horrible disrepair. That has more to do with city politics and paying off bad decisions that were made and lawsuits that Oakland is paying out. However it is a different story statewide. I go on many road trips around the state from Crescent City to Big Sur with frequency. The roads are looking better, being widened in many places and lanes added when possible. I remember getting bogged down in Willits but now it's easy to bypass them. There are areas where improvement is not possible due to land erosion and that is a problem. With our fires they try to build the roads so that fire trucks can get through. I think the roads have never looked better in California is my observation, having traveled the roads in this state for over fifty years.
36
@mltrueblood
Much of local road maintenance and improvement is under the control of the local government. They do get some grant money from state and federal funds, but they must actually apply for it and use it as required.
YOUR problem is the city you live in.... OAKLAND.
In San Jose, even during the great recession, the city infrastructure was being maintained, resurfaced, and when special grant money came in.. even parks were upgraded and in some cases brand new parts constructed for San Jose citizens. And NO... not just in gentrified parts of San Jose... all over San Jose.
25
And how do they vote?
My guess is the answer to this question will give them all the information they need as to why it's all so terrible for them.
8
I am originally from Ettrick in Trempealeau County and this is pretty sad information. These are good, hard working people who have truly been left behind. Indeed, when the sand mine development took off because of fracking, Trempealeau County was found to be ideal for the fine sand needed in that endeavor. But many people raised concerns that heavy trucks and equipment needed for sand mining would be very hard on the road system, though not our governor at the time, Governor Scott Walker (R). Whatever was good for business was good for Trempealeau County. Indeed, as our roads deteriorated in Trempealeau County and throughout the state, he refused any increase in the gas tax, but he did institute a registration fee for all hybrid vehicles, since, of course, they don’t pay their share of gas taxes. The obvious fact that large trucks and heavy vehicles damage roads by a factor of 5000 times over an automobile, as noted in this article, was conveniently ignored. And that is Republican Conservatism as we know it today. Former Republican Governors, such as Tommy Thompson or Warren Knowles, understood real conservative values, including education, health care, and infrastructure. Walker, like Trump, wants to take us back to the 1930s and, unfortunately, they are succeeding.
292
@Gregory Sheehy - "These are good, hard working people who have truly been left behind."
I don't know how things are in Middleton Wisconsin but I can assure you that they are not alone when it comes to road quality and infrastructure. Many of us have been from Guam to Hawaii to New England. I'd be thrilled to have roads that looked as good as some of those pictured.
Most conservatives are nothing of the sort. If they were, they would conserve our infrastructure, not their pocketbooks.
53
Warren Knowles! You have a great memory and all you’ve written is correct. Thank you.
17
Are they “left behind” or did they vote themselves into this mess? I absolutely agree this is a problem... its a huge issue across the nation. All I’m saying is get out and vote because this is NOT going to improve with the current administration. They just get the rich richer and spout false promises to everyone else.
57
I agree with many of the commenters here, that many people in this country have been sold a bill of goods - very likely from the government officials they elect. IE: stop supporting Trump and politicians that think taxes are evil. You want to "Make America Great Again?" Believe in a fair tax plan. Amazon and Walmart pay very little tax, make enormous profits and conduct their business (shipping) on roads WE pay for! We subsidize them! This has to stop. Go to the polls and vote for people who believe that infrastructure is: roads, bridges, trains, mass transit, clean water and clean air. It is not border walls and "clean coal". Wake up.
297
@MG Well said.
10
@MG
I agree 100% but don't expect those voters to "wake up" anytime soon. They drank the Republican KoolAid a long time ago.
10
@MG Right on!
6
The rotting of our infrastructure is the inevitable result of taxpayers seeing no difference between spending and investing.
11
As a Wisconsin resident, I was very disappointed in state Republicans for favoring a registration fee increase, which favors the rich (since the poor pay exactly the same as the rich to operate a vehicle) and not a gas tax, which would affect people based on their road usage.
It is amazing to me that the rich have been able, for decades, to persuade many poorer people to vote against their economic interests.
13
@David G. I'm always disappointed in Wisconsin's GOP. I too have yet to figure out why poor people, including poor people I'm related to, keep voting against their self-interests. I've come to the conclusion they live in an alternate reality.
4
Infrastructure week bypassed Wisconsin?
What a surprise.
9
@Martin
To my knowledge, Infrastructure Week bypassed the whole country.
8
@D.J. McConnell Best comment on here!
So the big trucks are going there because the local population/industry/agriculture either need supplies or to transport goods that are produced there. They have a couple of choices, pony up and pay more in taxes or ban big trucks and pay more for transportation.
96
Conservatives keep telling us that we must bear the enormous cost of our most expensive military in the world. Why? "To protect our freedom".
Freedom to do what?
To have everything fall apart because the only thing we're willing to spend money on is the military?
262
@Jerseytime freedom to continue extend our "not winning wars" record to 8 decades I guess.
14
@Jerseytime
Silly argument. The US military is expensive because it has to pay members a lot more than most other militaries and because it spends a ton of money to try to minimize casualties to soldier/sailors/airmen/marines. Ignore the actual dollar amount and look at military spending as a percentage of the GDP and you'll see that it really isn't that high. At some 3.2% it's near the low end over the last 80 years with the exception of the late 90's. Even over the last 20 years the high point was in 2010 after which spending fell for eight years.
The real budget buster is entitlement spending which has increased every year for decades. Calling out military spending while ignoring entitlements is hypocrisy.
1
@Locke_ You do understand that we are entitled to the entitlements programs because we have paid for them via payroll taxes, yes?
35
Why not implement a toll system based on weight so those using the roads can pay and be charged accordingly? Otherwise the general fund taxpayers are subsidizing the rural areas.
5
@Daniel ... the rural roads benefit the urban areas. Virtually all of the food grown or raised in the US travels at one time or another on rural roads. Tourists travel on rural roads. When we visit our "country cousins" we travel on rural roads.
We are all in this together . . . that's what makse us a nation . . . more importantly, that's what makes us civilized.
6
@Richard Collins
Yet the rural folks consistently vote down taxes to pay for such things as roads and other infrastructure improvements. In most states the urban areas already subsidize the rural areas in terms of taxes and tax dollar distribution. This is what “small government” looks like.
6
@Richard Collins Yes, but, increased production costs are routinely passed along to consumers. Ultimately the expense is spread around. What is lacking is a willingness to incur the upfront expense.
3
It all comes from the "pay no taxes" philosophy pushed by the Republican right. They want their cake, and let others eat turnips.
When governmental budgets are constrained, they naturally cut where they feel they will get the least complaints. Roads are a natural for this. When the roads slowly deteriorate, their decay is slow so the under spending is not noticed for many years.
Well, we've been at this now for decades. No big surprise.
In California in April 2017, the legislature (Democratic super-majority) passed Senate Bill 1 and Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill. It provided $5 Billion per year in funds to repair and improve California roadways. It was allocated between the state, counties and cities. it was funded by increases in gas sales taxes and registration fees.
In September 2018, Republicans succeeded in putting Proposition 6 on the ballot for November. It would eliminate the program set in motion by SB1 the previous year.
Here's the history of Proposition 6:
"Prop. 6 qualified for the ballot with key support from members of California’s Republican congressional delegation; Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox; and Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California."
It failed by historic margins for such propositions: 43% in favor, 57% against.
10
@Ken
Overall, California is not the highest when it comes to tax burden: New York is.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/us-states-with-the-highest-tax-burdens.html
1
Let's try this. Let's say every vehicle pays a $100 tax to drive on their states roads, whether it be city, county, or state roads. Now take the number of cars in each state, close to 4 million in NC, multiply, and you would have 400 million each year to fix roads and infrastructure. Each state could do this. This would help tremendously to solve a lot of our infrastructure problems when it comes to roads. Major Interstates would still be part of the federal governments purvue.
2
@Tom Surely you don't expect government to actually use those funds to repair roads? We have a fund in NJ just for that, gets pillaged more than villages during the Viking Era
10
@Tom . . . that's a tax that would be both regressive and unfair. The low income people pay the same amount as the wealthy . . . but it's a much larger percentage of their income and/or wealth. And the owner of a Prius pays the sqame amount as the owner of a semi . . . even though the semi causes much more damage.
3
In South Dakota, annual registration fees are assessed based on vehicle weight. No doubt, it is still not proportionate with damage incurred, but that model of taxation is a start. Weight plus miles driven by a formula would certainly address the issue.
4
@Cali Registration fees for trucks are the standard in just about every state, I'm pretty sure. And some states require special registration (and extra fees) for trucks to carry over the legal weight limits, in addition to whatever permits are also required.
1
@Cali Damage goes up with the square of weight.
Charge suv's a whole lot more as they do a whole lot more damage per mile.
1
It’s the same everywhere, even in our rural desert. Roads are not maintained, people complain, but taxes are more odious than coronavirus.
5
Where I grew up in the midwest we had a lot of gravel roads. They're cheap to build and cheap to maintain. They don't crack. If trucks are too heavy for the roads, run more trucks each of lighter weight.
3
@Karl Yes, I remember gravel roads. Top speed 15 mph. Faster than that and you'll be throwing gravel onto the car behind you. Much faster than that and your own car will be bouncing around so much you'll slow down.
1
Infrastructure? What's that? Using tax dollars to actually maintain the roads? We have a serious disconnect in this country. The reason we've been pushed to buy tank-like vehicles is not only because they're cheaper to build, but also because they can navigate our horrible streets and highways with better results than "sedans".
But more money for military contractors! We may as well just have cash-burns in DC. Same result.
7
Comments here blame tax cuts, but the issue with rural roads has been going on for years. We had the investment act that Obama passed that was close to 9 billion dollars, but most went to shore up public service benefits promised to government administrators and a bank in France. Rural areas are not the focus of Congress, it would appear. The heavy weight of the trucks I'm sure contributes, but you can't expect roads to last decades with minimal maintenance. Perhaps rural areas need better representatives? They shouldn't have to lobby Congress, but seems without a strong lobby, you get no attention. And the money that was spent to invest in infrastructure during Obama years should have been spent on infrastructure vs.foreign banks and administrative benefits.
The real problem is that when Congress puts money into something via legislation, it doesn't go to solve the problem, just goes to pork.
4
@Ma This has been going on since the 60s . Average road is 75 years old lifespan of 30 years (roughly so 40 years ago someone should have started fixing.
1980 Reagan, and the fantasy would of we can have no taxes but still get everything we want. Every President since has fallen in line with this dream world.
But you only mention Obama.
9
"A legally loaded semi-trailer truck can produce 5,000 to 10,000 times the road damage of one car according to some estimates"
No, please, let's keep raising the registration fees and taxes on passenger electric vehicles because they're not paying their "share" of road-maintaining gas taxes.
5
And yet Wisconsin poured hundreds of millions into roads around the Foxconn debacle.
14
These farmers sure do cry a good cry.
They ruin the roads with their heavy equipment, but protest over having to pay higher taxes to fix the very problem they created.
Then, to top it all off, they vote for Trump and other republicans who enact policies contrary to their own interests.
Cry me a river.
30
First of all, not all farmers are Republicans. Even in rural areas Democrats get a good number votes if generally not majorities.
Secondly, the number of road miles in rural areas can meet or exceed that in urban areas but there are many fewer people to pay the costs and land values (read property taxes) are lower so total taxes are lower. One square mile in an urban area may have 10,000 people with houses valued at $200,000+. A rural area may have 100 people per square mile. Property is valued less and average incomes are also less.
Third, we often see urban areas crying for more resources to meet their needs. I'm going to guess that you're not blaming their situation on whatever voting decisions they made.
2
The entirety of the story can be boiled down to the sentence 'What’s really needed, Mr. Rinka said, is a “culture change” in residents and business owners who want good roads but don’t want to pay for them."
17
Yet one more example of a red rural area bemoaning the crumbling infrastructure but refuses to elect Democrats to fix the problem AND pay higher property taxes to ensure the funds to solve their problems!
Therapists always say walk away from a relationship that isn’t working for you. Are you going to listen to that advice in November or are you so abused you’re too afraid to leave this toxic relationship?
13
@Savita Patil This is a good argument, except that this county - and all of western Wisconsin - elected a Dem to the US House of representatives and still slants more progressive than most rural areas. You're confusing their votes for the votes of people in Milwaukee's northern and western suburbs (hundreds of miles away).
5
@Jim G My apologies as I'm not sure how your politics work on a state level but I guess I meant to say why aren't the local governments Democrat led? Surely it's the local city/town governments that dictate property taxes and their usage? At least that's the way it works where I live in Ontario, Canada.
1
@Savita Patil I think the issue is that local governments in this area see themselves in a sort of vicious cycle. Sure they they have some powers to raise money and pay for roads, but where does the money come from? The county is mostly poor, with few people but lots of road-miles (the land is hilly, so agriculture tends to smaller disconnected fields spread out among multiple ridges and valleys). They really want to attract new employers and are afraid to do anything, especially raise taxes, if that might scare them off and make their poor residents even poorer. For relief they're structurally dependent on voters in other parts of the state, or on the federal government.
3
So what do they want us to do go start a gofundme and have us pay for their road? They rejected a tax increase, so it's on them.
13
Nobody wants to have the road fixed if it’ll increase their taxes. In short, they’ve bought into the old joke: “Hi. I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.” They actually believe the punchline—“the guvment” is seen as the only solution even if it’s a painful solution.
1
Why fix the roads when you can give the rich a tax break?
12
One thing not mentioned in the story was the 'frac sand boom' that took place in Western WI. Many of the roads in that area of the state were abused when dump trucks laden with sand were traversing the area. Now that the boom is somewhat over, we're left with the busted roads...
9
While the president they voted for spends hundreds of thousands jetting to his golf resorts most weekends and charging the Secret Service astronomical amounts to rent rooms and golf carts.
Fool me once. . .
10
And you can had much the same under Obama when Republicans were complaining about all of his travel and vacations. Unless you were talking about that then, it shouldn't be an issue now.
@JKile That's millions.
@Locke_
Check your facts. Trump is way ahead of Obama and Obama wasn’t making money off rental fees.
So how’s the 1% tax cut working for you? As a matter of fact I still read you are 50% red and Trump.....so what’s going to change?
10
Wisconsin? This is the problem with the times...if they wanted to write a story about battered pavement, all they'd have to do is take a drive up the Major Deegan. The roads in the NY metro area are the poster children for municipal neglect and deferred maintenance.
5
A lot of people here seem ready to jump to the conclusion that this is a classic example of shortsighted Republican tax aversion. In Trempealeau County, there may be some truth in that, but in general, the whole west-central part of Wisconsin (the so-called "Driftless area") has a strong and fairly consistent base of support for Democratic candidates and progressive measures. This is the surprising "blue island" we all see on most voting maps for this area.
No, what this article really reflects is the natural consequence of a genuine reduction in economic opportunities in this area. There are plenty of pretty rolling hills and small farms and clear streams filled with trout, but not many ways to make an easy living. Few manufacturing concerns and no large populations centers. Until the root causes of rural stagnation are addressed, we're going to hear a lot more stories like this one.
7
Do these 'rural road folk' not heard of raising taxes? I have no sympathy for people who disdain me and my belief in what our country should be. No more "I care" because I cared and they didn't Forget their roads, it's up to the state to take care of this problem, not me or the my federal dollars.
3
Conservative Chuck Marohn of the Strong Towns organization has made our local road building programs, and the finances that underpin them, a major focus. He should have been cited by the author.
In Massachusetts we have an "excise" tax based on the "worth" or your motor vehicle. It's mandated by the state, but municipalities are the ones who collect it and they can do whatever they want with it.
I got my bill the other day. They tell me my 2004 cadilliac SEDAN is worth more than $4500. The car is 17 years old. There's no way this vehicle is worth that much. But it goes to show, what was once meant to "fix the roads" and no longer does, has now become just another tax.
6
This appears to be a county/state issue..mostly county in this article. Too many comments seem to try and tie Federal taxes and elections to this article. Counties with a larger population/tax base have better roads..other less populated counties can struggle. This idea that those people haven't paid enough in taxes is offset by the fact these roads are 70+ years old. People have been paying property tax and wheel tax.registration, road tax etc.. for their entire life. I'd say they have spent plenty...for getting no new roads for 70+ years??
3
Good point. I grew up in Chippewa County Wisconsin. All rural roads are paved and I always thought in pretty darn good shape.
As someone who works in the trucking industry, my job is based on estimating costs for our company to move oversize/overweight freight, and this article is pretty illustrative of how -- especially in, but not necessarily limited to rural areas -- trucking companies (and their customers) aren't paying their fair share for maintaining America's infrastructure. Wisconsin, just like every other state, requires permits for loads that are over legal weight and dimension limits, but the cost of those permits (like every other state) don't really reflect the damage that a truck that is even just slightly over the maximum gross weight can inflict. For example, WI's overweight permit for a load up to 90,000 gross vehicle weight is under $30. Additionally, cities, counties and other municipalities sometimes require permits for oversize/overweight trucks to move on the roads they maintain (as opposed to state-maintained roads such as interstates, US highways, etc.), but it isn't mentioned in this article that Trempealeau County's Highway Department doesn't require such permits! Though even if they did, they probably would average around the same cost as other WI county permits, ie. around $25 dollars.
Even when putting infrastructure maintenance aside, trucking has a number of so-called "hidden" costs, such as the public health and climate change effects of air pollution. Yet many places in America cannot be reached by any form of transport other than trucks. It's a quandry, for sure.
10
@Joel Actually I stand corrected, upon further research it appears that Trempealeau County WI does have a permit it requires on county roads, but it's anyone's guess how much it costs, since they don't publish that information on their website. Surprised the permit requirement wasn't mentioned in the article, though.
2
@Joel Trempeleau county is awash in sand pit mines. Now the majority is shipped off using rail, but there is still going to be a lot of heavy machinery used in that industry that is going to tear up the roads, but that industry pays the bills up there and there's no way the locals are going to support anything that constricts that money faucet
2
@Simon That's not surprising, of course, that industry would get a break at the expense of maintaining infrastructure.
Speaking of which, Trempeleau County WI does have a permit for "implements of husbandry," ie. farm machinery, to travel on county roads. Guess how much it costs? Apparently nothing! So there's a source of revenue that the county is passing up.
Does anyone check facts any more?
"Although just 19 percent of the country’s population lives in rural areas, those regions have 68 percent of the total lane and road miles."
This is not believable. Every weekday, six-lane and eight-lane highways into our major cities are jammed with cars. It's not just Los Angeles and New York, but also Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Denver, and many more cities. The roads shown in the article on rural Wisconsin may well have fewer than ten cars per hour. There are simply not enough of these roads to reach the 68 percent claim.
The Department of Transportation site to which the article provides a link repeats the statement. But deeper into the article is this: "44% of rural passenger vehicle traffic is urban residents traveling to destinations outside their urban home." The driver on a four-lane major highway who passes through a rural county on the way to Dallas gets counted in this. Thus, DOT has a not-helpful conceptualization as to what counts as a rural road.
Nonetheless, the NY Times should be thanked for exhibiting the problems of rural transport in farm areas.
1
@Gary I understood "68 percent of the total lane and road miles" to refer to the amount of roads, not the amount of traffic on them. Clearly, rural areas will have a disproportionate amount of road distance. Driving distance, too, although probably not as disproportionate as road distance.
6
@Gary The way I see it, If I'm driving on County FF in Douglas County, on State Highway 13 in Ashland County, or even on US-2 in Bayfield County, all in Wisconsin, I'm driving rural area road miles. However, if I am driving I-39 downstate by Almond, WI, I am not driving rural area road miles, due to the limited-access nature of the highway and the various restrictions of the types of vehicles that can be operated upon it. A tractor may be operated on FF, 13, or even 2, but you'll never see one being driven on an interstate highway.
1
Yet those very same farmers vote in the people who are preventing the problem from being addressed. This isn't the only one. People need to look in the mirror when it comes to the reason things like this happen.
11
This article could just as easily describe the roads in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina.
I'm sure that the voters in those states, along with Wisconsin, will be happy to again pull the lever for Trump to give him another 4 years to deliver on "infra-structure week."
9
We have met the enemy and he is us. Taxes are an anathema regardless of the services we receive from them.
I recently read that Americans were expected to spend appropriately $27 billion on Valentines Day. That would pay for reconstructing 90,000 miles of road. Or consider the $11 billion spent to date on that border wall. That’s another 36,000 mi.
10
According to the figures quoted in the article, it costs $300,000 to rebuild one mile of road. For a billion dollars, you could rebuild 3,333 miles of road that have exceeded their useful life. For the cost of one Ford-class aircraft carrier ($13 billion), you could rebuild about 43K miles of roads. Maybe we ought to think about how to re-allocate some of the spending towards vital infrastructure before it all comes crashing down around us. Maybe we don't need a border wall as much as we need safer bridges, even the little ones described here. Let's face it - after 3 years, there is no "beautiful infrastructure plan" on the horizon nor is there ever likely to be one with the current administration. Third-world status, here we come!
20
My street in suburban San Diego County hasn't been repaved in over fifty years.The stones in the asphalt stick out and they're sharp There is a school across the street and buses used to drop off and pick up students in the employee parking lot on the other side of the campus.
Now every morning and afternoon multiple buses and parents cars use the street, parking anywhere, even in my driveway. They have moved my trash cans away from the curb.
3
When we elect politicians who deliver tax cuts for the wealthy rather than invest in infrastructure - and it's not just roads; bridges and water systems are even worse off - this is the predictable outcome. It disappointing, but no longer surprising, that people continue to vote against their own interests.
15
Who really cares? Wisconsin farmers vote overwhelmingly for extreme right-wing Republicans and this is the result. I do have a suggestion though - let the farmers pool their resources and pay for the road repairs themselves. They, like all Republicans, scream and yell at the thought of taxes that may go to helping someone else and declare that people should always take care of themselves, so they really need to put their money where their mouths are and do it themselves without expecting handouts from taxpayers.
Its not so great when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?
53
Maybe gas and diesel used by tractors shouldn't be exempt from road tax - those big combines and tractors tear up the roads same as the tractor trailers but the owners don't have to help pay for the repairs thru the road tax.
3
@Ajvan1 Up until the 2016 presidential election Wisconsin has been considered a Blue State and hopefully will return to that status in 2020. Eight long years of a Republican governor who paid lip service to the Koch brothers, broke the state unions, bought into the Foxconn scam was also not a shining moment in the state. But the state and Wisconsin farmers as a whole cannot be generalized as overwhelmingly in favor for extreme right-wing Republican leadership.
Let the farmers pool their resources and pay for the road repairs themselves? Farmers pay their fair share of taxes and this is not solely a Wisconsin issue; it is a nation wide issue of infrastructure failure.
2
Have they considered ordering a pizza from Domino’s and having the fast food Corp fix the roads? Aren’t we supposed to rely on consumerism and corporatism to fix all of our problems as we become great again?
15
@Rob
I'm not sure if you're being serious or snarky.
Cars don't tear up roads. Everyone knows truckers and farmers are tearing up the roads. Yet everyone else is expected to pay for the damage they do. Those who do the damage should pay for the repairs. Period. If you are carrying 80,000 lbs down a country road you should be taxed accordingly. Both groups have historically had their businesses subsidized by the taxpayer with regard to road usage and this must stop.
25
I'll bet repaving our roads and fixing our bridges would create many more good paying jobs than Trump's tax cuts did.
27
Wisconsin. Hmmm, if memory serves me correctly, this state was patient zero when it comes to electing officials who promised to cut taxes, beginning with the election of Scot Walker as governor. It's an annoying fact, but taxes pay for road construction and upkeep. I wish I could feel empathy for the people of Wisconsin and other low tax states, but my empathy is gone. The NYT has done an excellent job of showing how residents of these states are turning more and more to the Bible, so here's a quote from Hosea 8:7: "Indeed, they sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind."
60
If some of the roads in question were 60+ years old, who do you blame for the lack or repair/replacement before Walker?
And while rural residents may be more religious than people in large coastal cities, not all of them are and most are little different from people you'd meet any day. And do you think you're going to bring them around to your viewpoint by openly mocking them?
1
40 years of roads crumbling, like much of the rest of our infrastructure?
"What’s really needed...is a “culture change” in residents and business owners who want good roads but don’t want to pay for them."
Cutting vital government services instead of fixing the resources we all depend on because some do not want to raise taxes seems to be the root of the crisis here, not the roads themselves. Don't look to government for a solution until we turn around the short-sighting and hypocritical maneuvering to win elections by promises of endless tax cuts.
If you look back 40 years, where does that get you? A sloppy right turn under Reagan - and somehow despite the lack of empirical evidence establishing tax cuts as a net positive for our economy remains the fraudulent elephant in the room of US politics - and we're still steering right into the ditch because our politics often remains too dumb to acknowledge the obvious. We help no one but the wealthy with tax cuts, while undercutting the vital infrastructure that it takes to compete in global markets.
34
People generate headlines and policy-warping donations by building something new, not by making what exists work well.
This is often a disastrous bias in our public decision-making.
We (almost) all use rural roads to get the stuff we buy to us. That the people who live there can also use those roads for personal travel does not significantly change what they cost, so they are using a free resource - one that has to be maintained anyway so people can eat.
This is the argument for Amtrak over HSR. Infrastructure that exists for rail freight can be used more often than if it were restricted to one purpose. This can be far more efficient and have far less downside risk of nonuse.
5
@Alan
It's not a free resource. The personal users also pay property and gas tax. The machines that are getting bigger and heavier are causing the most damage so they should pay more taxes to repair the roads.
5
@Alan What does your comment have to do with crumbling rural roads in Wisconsin?
Where are the Republican congresspersons and legislators? Where is their outrage? Where is their regard for the well being of these individuals? Rural America covers quite a lot of their districts.
11
When a car driver of modest means hits an unfilled pothole it could result in costly front end repair that their budget can't afford. While many view state gas tax increases as a burden it does spread the costs amongst all drivers saving countless front ends from the repair shop and many from the unexpected debt of paying the mechanic.
7
@Frank Heneghan
True, but why should everyone pay equally, when a few are causing most of the damage?
6
The key phrase in this article is the one about how the Republican legislature refused to increase the gasoline tax. That is why there is no sustainable source of funds for road repairs.
36
Military and veteran benefits account for more than half of the entire US budget. Defense spending is more than the next seven countries - combined!
Who are we so afraid is going to attack our country that we need more ships, planes and nuclear bombs. Our future is more threatened by what can be done in the cyberworld on a keyboard.
There's enough money for health care, infrastructure and education and child care without raising taxes.
Spend less money on military hardware and use the Defense budget more wisely.
29
Um, no. You can only make that assertion if you try to separate out Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other other such entitlement spending. Defense is about 1/7th of the federal budget. Procurement is around $147 billion which includes almost everything the military buys. And keep in mind that ships/planes/trucks /tanks all wear out and need to be replaced at some point. The issue right now isn't to increase the amount of hardware but to replace the stuff that's wearing out fast.
@Locke_
You're not seeing the big picture.
You know what else wears out? Bayonets and stage coaches. We got more hardware that we need. Too much stuff. You know why? Here's one reason. Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrup-Gruman.
How many billions lost in Iraq and Afganistan. And I don't mean spent. Lost. Like in Generals' bank accounts and in the freezers of people we pay off.
That's why Generals give false accounts of our progress and want to keep fighting. You probably think they live in tents.
1
Just wondering when "Infrastructure Week" was going to start?
This seems like a perfect candidate for it!
8
@tvd It's past time for "Infrastructure Year".
Unless you are an elected official, there is no such thing as a free lunch. I'm really getting tired of people who want something for nothing. If you want roads and other infrastructure that is safe and reliable, you MUST pay for it. Rural America is already a net recipient of federal taxes from urban donors. Taxes are the price you pay for a civilized society. Make your choice. And don't whine about the consequences.
29
@Frank
We ARE paying for it. But we're getting a wall instead.
2
Stop voting for the party that gives the wealthy and corporations tax cuts. And invest in tire companies as they are the direct recipients of letting roads crumble (they are laughing all the way to the bank. On average I spend at least $300 a year on tire replacements (due to damage) and have even bent an (expensive) rim several times due to giant pot holes.
America's infrastructure is beyond shameful. So much for "exceptionalism" when many of the main thoroughfares in third world countries have fewer potholes than I-95.
25
A TOTAL FAILURE of ALL politicians in their ivory towers: "Our road hasn’t been paved since the ’60s."
Go to Europe and drive on billiard-sheet highways, use high-speed trains, make use of interconnected public transport ... and come back to the "Great USA", the birthplace of the interstate highway system, and enter the nightmare of "the horse and buggy"-system. Not sexy, not high PR-quality, but a foundation for a quality of life, an economic buoyancy, a cornerstone of a super-power.
17
@Herman Frank
The problem is not "all politicians." It is Republicans!
1
In this life nothing is free. You want better roads, you need to have tax increases. Also, with better roads your property value goes up!
19
@Lupe
So you pay higher taxes.
When you drive past my daughter's house, which is on a well-maintained county road, to the part of the neighborhood which is controlled by an HOA, and is privately owned, you will encounter potholes like I've never seen before. Those people don't want to pay for proper road maintenance.
11
Why aren’t the farmers with those giant trucks that ruin the roads asked to pay their fair share? That’s what the rest of us have to when we use public services. Yet, these corporate operations get tax break after tax break. Talk about unfair.
21
@MC indoctrination by the Republican establishment...
3
@Sarah Conner You'd be surprised just how much taxes are loathed in the Midwest. While living in Michigan, I was consistently surprised by people who simultaneously loathed their state gov't's inability to provide perfect roads in the face of Michigan winters and who absolutely refused to vote in addition taxes to pay for those roads. I'm not sure what drives this disconnect in most people's minds, but it has significantly affected policy.
189
@MC Because in Michigan and everywhere else, they've been conditioned by past Republican administrations to believe that the issue is not that they won't pay for it, but that the money is going to "waste, fraud, and abuse," which by most legitimate estimates, is actually pretty small. But its easy to point at it as the boogeyman, and a lot easier than solving the problem.
5
Barring the existence of a needed industry in a place, we should really explore decommissioning many rural roads. Buying out and relocating people in rural areas likely actually saves governments money compared to road paving and upkeep.
4
@B. Smith You cannot possibly be this foolish. People live there because they are producing the foods you eat every single day! Just say you've never left the city and move on
3
@B. Smith
Like China does with people it considers to be under-productive?
2
Sorry farmers, the billions Trump is spending on the wall would certainly repair thousands of roads and bridges.
20
Lower taxes + massively bigger, heavier vehicles = deteriorating infrastructure. Time to wake up and raise the money required to pay for what is needed, and ban oversized vehicles, or tax the manufacturers the cost of the damage their vehicles cause.
15
Well if we keep the trade war with China, farmers can just get gov’t subsidies and not have to grow soy as China will not buy it.
How ‘ bout we get to fixin’ those roads after we finish building that wall. A LOT of these farmers are likely big Trump supporters and will vote for him to finishing the wall without an infrastructure plan.
We’ll need to cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations bit more so they can be more motivated to out that extra cash into business investments - like stock buybacks....(ha).
And by the way, Trump & Republicans’ real constituents never drive on those roads so don’t hold your breath. Aren’t we great again yet?
12
"Throughout much of the Midwest and South, the rural transportation system is crumbling."
Just in rural areas? Driven on the FDR recently?
12
@Rebes The FDR is fine, other than traffic backups. What are you talking about? Unless something has drastically changed in the 3-4 months since I've drive on it, that is.
1
@Samuel
I have had four (4) flat tires in two years just from hitting potholes on streets within New York City.
2
If anyone from Wisconsin is reading this, the rest of us who did not vote for your hapless leader think you should ask your hapless leader for help. We have bad roads also in Oregon and we aren't whining about it like you are.
Ask trump for help.
Good luck.
39
@T. I spend a lot of time in central Oregon and the roads there are far better than the third world level roads we have in Ohio. Plus, Oregonians seem far better about not littering. However, I agree that we all need better infrastructure - roads, bridges, and the like.
4
Everyone’s suddenly a socialist when the roads need to be plowed or repaved.
11
@Dana
And your solution to paving or plowing is what?
Privatize all roads and make them toll roads?
Or am I responsible for paving and plowing the 500 feet in from of my place?
I expect two things for state and local government: (1) educate the young and (2) keep the roads in good repair.
3
@Fred
Well them I sure hope you vote to increase taxes when they come up on the ballot. Road and schools aren't funded for free.
1
I drove through Indiana once... Never again.
5
You want good roads? You need to pay for it. Simple as that.
16
I'm stuck wondering, "When did this cultural change switch to begin with?", and I keep coming back to Ronald Reagan who sold government as the problem, not the solution.
That would also have been the time when my parents, now in their 80's were making their most money and driving on excellent rural roads. Ah, but those roads were paid for by their parent's taxes! Perhaps farm subsidies could be reallocated to rural roads?
27
hmmm, people who vote for local, state and federal candidates who are radically anti-government, and don't support the use of taxes for any sort of infrastructure project are complaining about lack of infrastructure projects. Welcome to the modern conservative.
17
Property taxes don't need to go up. Taxes on dividends do. The hyper-rich have gotten tax cuts that would pay for all of this.
14
So long as the US spends a massive portion of its resources on military we will suffer from this situation, as well as deteriorating water and sewer systems, ineffective schools, a patched and failing public health and safety program and so much more. Our addiction to buying goods and services that do not have any significant multiplier effect on our economy will finally bankrupt us one day soon, and we will join the USSR and England on the scrap heap of empires.
4
I really can't help but laugh a little whenever I read about folks in rural areas complaining about their foot being injured, while ignoring that they're the ones holding the gun in the first place.
17
But I thought Infrastructure Week went so well??
7
@TL Which Infrastructure Week are you referring to? We've had over 100 of them.
They voted for Trump and I imagine many still support him. Call the White House for help!
11
Their roads are crumbling, Trump is destroying their lifelong farms with tariffs, their hospitals and schools are inadequate, and still -- nothing is worse than liberals and higher taxes. That's why we call them cheeseheads.
12
Those roads look like ours here in Guatemala, and we are a third world country. Has the US slipped down to our level?
13
Putting down hot tar over the cracks (As shown in the photograph) is the most conservative way to preserve a roadbed and will alleviateSome problems come next rainy season e.g. erosion and undercutting of stable pavement that will cause "potholes" — formed by the intense water pressure that exerted when vehicles go over these areas and they start to be blasted apart — well that's what happens out here in Californica, when the yuppie nimby bimbies drive there Beamers around as fast as they can, (After the roads are extensively paved (w/ 6" thick asphalt), every five years or so, in the Santa Cruz area. Almost everybody out here wants to be a formula one driver, at least on the way to and from work, instead of enjoying the redwood trees!
2
But the military has all of your taxes it needs.
6
This group voted for Trump. I have no sympathy. I would rather get my food from a foreign country.
12
This is exactly what rural people voted for—so why are they complaining?
30
Let's see. $300,000 a mile to reconstruct roads in Wisconsin versus $20 million a mile for Trump's border wall. MAGA Math in all of its logical glory!
22
These rural people deserve the roads they have! They would rather vote for Goldman Sachs to get massive tax breaks than get better roads...it's simple. The GOP tax "Plan" of 2017 orchestrated by Trump, Ryan and McConnell has blown up the deficit and there is no money for infrastructure but hey....at least they got those "coastal elites"
28
Just cut everybody's taxes,,, it will trickle down to the roads eventually.....
13
Since the roads are unstable, drop pamphlets from airplanes across rural parts of PA, MI, WI, OH, AZ, SC, VA, IA, NE, CO, MT and any other state that thinks increased deficits and decreased taxes are the way to solve these problems.
6
If we give 45 a second term, we deserve what we get. None of this will be addressed. He will spend money on himself, war, prisons, and more handouts to the rich. MAGA by voting him out.
9
I'm glad to read this and I feel nothing but pleasure to know the farmer's and citizens of Wisconsin who continually vote for Republicans are suffering from terrible road conditions.
This is a national problem and needs to be addressed nationally. Why are these people okay with spending trillions of Federal tax dollars on buying another F35 fighter jet or in fighting a useless war in Afghanistan or giving tax breaks and cuts to corporations and the 0.1%.
Maybe, if instead of complaining and wringing their hands, they started educating themselves about our political system and the actual policies leaders are proposing instead of being brainwashed by watching and listening to right wing media they could actually elect people who would take care of them and their interests.
18
Wish we had roads that looked as good as the one in the lead image.
Republicans wouldn't pass Obama's infrastructure spending bill.
Trump has never submitted his infrastructure bill and, even if he did, the Republicans wouldn't pass it.
Let's give another $1.5 Trillion tax cut to corporations and the 1%.
17
Three things:
First is that I grew up in the Midwest and I always love seeing images of home. California is beautiful, but I’ll always be a prairie girl at heart.
Second is that we are tapping aquifers that are steadily heading toward empty and we are exporting indirectly our nation’s water. I think the small farmer feeding the locals organic and sustainable food is a very noble job.
Third is we need to support the common goods of our local society and enable all to get around safely. Thanks for the images of the beautiful Midwest!
1
This is just another unfortunate example of how the Republican party convinces people to vote against their own best interests. I hope the Democrats start laying this and similar stories out in very clear terms and show the cause and effect of voting Republican.
18
For forty years, Republicans have won rural voters by appealing to, ahem, heritage and culture. Then those Republicans gave tax breaks to the wealthy and depleted funds for infrastructure. Over and over.
Meanwhile, cowardly governors of both parties refused to peg gas taxes to inflation. So that tax decreased steadily, depleting infrastructure funds.
Your toddler would love ice cream for dinner every night. As a parent, your approval rating would soar. But, eventually, you’d have a dangerously sick child. And that’s what we’ve got.
17
The only infrastructure project coming from the administration these people voted into office is taking place on our southern border with money questionably obtained from our military budget. And that wall isn’t going to be completed. It’s only being “constructed” so that 45 can take pictures in front of the construction site to get these same people to vote for him again.
It’s said that you shouldn’t do a lot of things when you’re angry. I’d say voting should be on that list.
10
This is where the "border wall" monies should be going to help our rural communities.
Let trump take his "beast" for a ride on some of these roads and then drive straight to the repair shop.
7
Two studies were done in Minn. and concluded that anywhere from 14-17 million cars did the same damage as one big rig. The back of the big rigs in Calif. say the big rigs pay their fare share of taxes to maintain the roads is patently false. If we privatize everything as the republicans would like where would that leave us? It does not matter if you drive an expensive car in LA you will see major damage even though it is built to handle lousy roads. As long as there is an attitude of no new taxes we are going to have lousy roads.
8
We have a lot of dirt roads in Vermont. And Mud Season is a joy, a favorite season for many. It's amazing how dirty my car is all the time! You can either have your cake and eat it - pay taxes, or quit complaining.
5
Voters threw out the last Congress that dared to increase the national gas tax.
2
We are continually treated to news articles about how “affordable” it is to live in rural areas. Apparently, in reality, it isn’t!
Not only roads, but many other utilities in these areas require massive government subsidies to exist: Rural electricity providers, high speed internet, sewer treatment plants, garbage pickup - none of these are commercially supportable enterprises given the sparse populations in these areas, and require $$ support form people who live in cities.
9
@Kh
We could just cede the countryside to nature. Then we can grow our food in our apartments, build stuff in the courtyard and write a nice letter to drug cartels and other criminals asking them to not set up shop in the abandoned places a few miles from town.
Given that some people have to live in many of these areas, the marginal cost of adding a few more people is likely quite low. Contrast this to an overcrowded city dumping many thousands of additional commuters into the typical rush hour and competing for rental housing.
1
@Kh
Good lord...all of those enterprises are commercially supported in most areas in the country....also only people who call country people "rural" are city people.
2
@Kh
I'm 22, live in a rural area, and own a nice home on 3 acres for less than half of what people in the city would pay for a studio apartment. I pay $19 a month for water/sewer and $80 every 3 months for trash. You couldn't pay me to live in a city and I don't think you want everyone who lives in rural areas to move to a city either.
1
If farmers were willing to forego the property tax break they receive in most states, there would be plenty of money to repair rural roads (and schools).
7
These are state and county roads; so let the state and the counties figure it out. If they want to get their crops to market, they will have to pay for roads. If they want to educate their kids, they will have to pay for schools. There is no free lunch Wisconsin.
9
Well, if they want things like roads, they should pay taxes, so that the state can afford them. Or they can hope that some philanthropic rich person will just donate the money to fix the roads.
Either way, they should stop complaining. Public roads cost money, it's pretty hard to feel sympathy for people whining about how bad the shape of their state infrastructure is, when they are vehemently opposed to paying taxes of any time. If these freeloaders want well paved roads, they can pay for them the same way everyone else does. Why is it that anti-tax conservatives are always shocked and offended when the quality of tax-funded services drops?
13
Disagree. Wisconsin already has some of the highest property taxes in the nation. And the taxpayers have willingly paid up. However, State government is more interested in giving tax rebates to foreign-owned corporations than investing in its own residents’ infrastructure. That’s what all those republican votes yielded. Nada
5
These road conditions exist everywhere in America. They should not! We boast of how good the economy is and so it is due to government spending. But the kicker is our infastructure is falling apart because the money that could fix it has gone to giving tax cuts to the rich and ballooning the debt with nothing to show for it but an artificial booming economy
14
Good roads are the result of good engineering and design, good construction, and good maintenance. None of these are rocket science; the Romans had perfected them 2,500 years ago. But all of them cost money, money that today's citizens have been duped into being unwilling to find.
At one time, good roads were funded by taxes -- taxes on motor fuel, taxes on vehicle consumibles such as tires, taxes on vehicle registration and licensing. But in this "throw me something" Mardi-Gras milieu, those traditional sources of highway maintenance finding have dried up, and our highway and byway infrastructure has suffered from neglect. And commerce has suffered along with it.
Good roads, free roads, are an example of socialism. Since an anti-socialist philosophy has taken hold, perhaps it is appropriate that our roads crumble to gravel.
12
@Michael B “Good roads, free roads” are not an example of “socialism,” but a failure simply of public funding. All public funding (often involving taxes) is not “socialism.”
3
Wisconsin farmers want better roads and overwhelmingly support Trump and other Republicans. Maybe they will eventually realize the contradiction.
18
It's not just rural roads. You should see the roads in Philadelphia. No politician anywhere was ever elected on a promise to repair roads, or repair anything, notwithstanding presidential campaigns from both parties yakking about "infrastructure."
6
All this heavy truck traffic damaging the roads? Well, tax trucks and heavy equipment so they pay their way. This should all be on the railroads, which maintain their own tracks. Complaining about no longer getting a subsidy to ruin the road because you've voted for vastly lower taxes is your problem.
18
@Jack
A tax on commercial trucks is basically a sales tax. Such a tax is regressive and it diminishes competition.
Sure, the trucking company pays it, but so do all the consumers who buy what is on the truck.
@Alan As do all the railroads competing with trucks already, they don't get free rails. And they move goods much more efficiently with less carbon impact than trucks. You clearly fall into the camp of 'doesn't ever want to pay what things cost.'
These problems will be exacerbated by climate change in the years and decades to come too. As Wisconsin's winters get milder, there will be more freeze/thaw cycles. This wreaks havoc on blacktop, and is the reason most rural roads in Iowa are gravel.
7
"Quality roads are expensive. Reconstructing a mile costs $300,000, Mr. Rinka said. Chip sealing, a kind of short-term patching, costs $17,000 a mile."
Someone is making a lot of money doing this. Maybe it's time we take a hard look at what these costs are all about. If it's a public contract there is no doubt that it is very inflated. I am all for a fair wage and reasonable material costs but infrastructure projects in the public sector left that a long time ago. Check you state legislation for this.
9
@J F Yes, if we just pay the laborers who do this very hard work less then all will be well. Perhaps we can cut (or even eliminate) their benefits too. That's the American way, right?
8
@J F Yeah, let's do it on the cheap. Return 'em all to gravel. That'll solve all of their problems forever and always - until somebody starts complaining about how much the gravel pit operator charges for aggregate...
You obviously have no idea what it takes to engineer and construct a road that needs to be taken down to its original base level to remedy 75 years or more of wear and tear. Perhaps you should do a little research so you have a better understanding of that which you criticize. Rest assured, it takes a little more than a kid with a bucket and a sand shovel, and it costs a bit more than just another layer of chip-and-seal.
One possible solution is the ton-mileage tax. This is a tax applied to vehicles based on their weight and miles driven to reflect the damage to roads and bridges by the very same vehicles. We cannot privatize the profits and socialize the costs.
23
@etkindh1
And the weight for trucks should include gross weight to account for loads, not just the truck.
Interesting side effect is that electric cars would likely pay more, as they are heavier for their size than are gas cars for the batteries.
It would probably stir innovation to get battery weight down, just as the taxes in Europe resulted in smaller and more efficient engines where taxes were based on engine size.
4
I grew up in Wisconsin and we had great roads until Scott Walker was elected. We also had a plan for a high speed rail to connect Madison to Milwaukee and Chicago, but he killed all that too. Now the Republican Senate thwarts the will of the people daily to turn Wisconsin into a third world country. Now you know why I moved.
62
And yet, when it comes time to vote, they will vote Republican again.
8
Improved infrastructure in America is like a strong universal health care system that is affordable to all of us--simply unattainable, even though we're a prosperous, first-world country, and the other countries have things.
It's our unique, can't-do spirit.
31
It cost hundreds if millions of dollars each year re-paving our roads. How is it that we are living in the 21st Century, we can create artificial intelligence, robots, and explore space, but Material Sciences still cannot develop a better, more durable road surface?
3
@Oliver Hull We do have better surfaces. If you read the article, the average age of road surfaces in that area is 74 years old. The new surfaces will be "long lasting" but first you have to pay to put them down. Rather, the question should be, why are we spending money in all the places we are spending it, yet we can't pay for road surfaces?
12
@Oliver Hull : I've got it, I've got it -- how about two parallel ribbons of high-carbon steel that carry vehicles with steel wheels and little flanges to keep them going in the right direction?
Essentially zero friction, almost no wear in comparison to rubber wheels on pavement.
That "better, more durable road surface" was, in fact, invented and developed nearly a century before the highway.
10
The rails aren't being maintained very well, either. The RRs spend as little as possible and so do the taxpayers. This is what one commenter called our "can't do" attitude.
3
RE: “But when it comes to infrastructure, that’s crucial for everyone, not just farmers. All the businesses that are out here rely on quality roads.”
Juxtapose with "I did it all my self with no one else".
Remember all those people and companies that wish to pay no taxes because they don't need nobody?
But I will say this. Where I come from that road getting treated at the top of the article looks pretty smooth, at least at that altitude, compared to many that I drive daily in the "urban" northeast. Heck even the photos of other roads look better than on the crumbling pavement on state and local routes right near my house.
12
@Marie Same here for Western Massachusetts. Our potholes are better than theirs! Ha.
2
Well they don’t like paying taxes, so privatize these roads and let them pay tolls to a some big corporation to maintain them. It’s only fair.
19
Funny thing is that Wisconsin has what would seem to be a politically-acceptable answer staring it right in the face: Make Interstates 90 and 94 toll roads. Those highways receive massive traffic from cross-country trucking, and for the most part the owners of those behemoths are -TA DA-not Wisconsin residents. What could be more politically expedient than that?? Alas Wisconsin residents would also have to pay the tolls, even at a drastically lower rate and with the convenience of transponders. So of course this solution is a complete non-starter with the Republican statesmen in our legislature, who still control every aspect of the government notwithstanding the overdue dispatching of Scott Walker to the scrapheap of the history. So much for our "Progressive" tradition.
14
Looks like the roads in downstate and central Illinois. Where I used to live in the country we were surrounded on all four sides by corn and bean fields. The tractors and semis would tear up the roads and our local road commissioner's idea of fixing was to throw loose gravel on top of the giant potholes. Not to mention they were never plowed efficiently in the winter causing accidents and making it impossible to get to school/work. They are the kind of roads where you can swerve and dodge all you want but you're still going to end up hitting some kind of pothole, you then wince and apologize to your car. I'm so glad I live next to a highway that is actually halfway decently maintained. My car is probably glad too.
3
And yet, as I drive over these same roads through the rural parts of Sheboygan County, I see large signs touting the next GOP candidate for whatever office is on the ballot this election cycle. Meanwhile, where is the infrastructure money that candidate DJT said would be pouring forth upon his inauguration?
47
Farmers belly-aching about bad roads so they can drive their farm equipment, which runs on no-tax diesel. When farmers start paying road taxes on the diesel they use, maybe their roads would get fixed.
Rural populations complain about interference from urban areas; what they don't complain about is the tax revenue transfers from urban to rural areas. If it weren't for these subsidies from urban taxpayers, many of these rural areas wouldn't have ANY paved roads.
49
@Jack And urban areas wouldn't have any food. The no-tax diesel is a subsidy for farmers to fund expensive machinery necessary to harvest the food that the cities and other urban areas rely on. It's to the advantage of the urban areas if the food can actually get there.
3
Then why did the farmers need to receive a bailout for the tariffs if the the crops were going to feed US consumers?
7
@HA Food? Nobody eats soybeans and corn in those quantities. These farmers are not growing real food that people eat.
7
"Taxes are the Price people pay to enjoy a civilized society." This is another example of exploitation of the Commons, hidden Negative Externalities, and greedy short-sightedness.
Farmers want to use the roads to transport heavy equipment, and ship even heavy crops. Farmers glean the most benefit from the Rural Road system, even as their big vehicles cause the most damage to the Road surface. Yet they do not want to pay their share for the upkeep of the roads. They are not willing to abide a relatively pain-free increase in the State Gas Tax, nor are they willing to contemplate paying Tolls to cross their local Bridges, or pay user Fees for access to the road network which is in the vicinity of the Farm.
19
@Outerboro
Yup, let’s privatize a lot of our rural roads. Most once were. In Sweden they often are (and, by the way, Sweden is not much more socialist than the US). Whatever does the damage should be paying for maintenance. Same goes for SUVs and pickups that do more damage than small cars. Crank the maintenance fees into the costs of vehicles.
We used to at least give lip service to common sense.
2
Apparently, tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% and no taxes at all for corporations isn’t a “win-win” for everyone, after all.
Maybe the citizens of this county ought to reconsider who they vote for.
45
@Christopher Maybe they should ask which presidential candidate will build "beautiful roads" instead of a "beautiful wall"
16
This is just one more symbol of America sinking further and further. We have abandoned infrastructure, education, health, honesty, morality. The recognition of a free fall always comes far after the actual demise. We are way down the list in infant mortality, maternal mortality, educational achievement. And bridges, roads, water quality are following along. Priorities are with Wall Street and more Wall Street. This short sightedness has gotten us where we are, with a con man in the WH, and a cult that wants to believe a serial bankrupter has the magic wand. Hard working people with a moral compass are left by the side of the road.
40
"Hard working people with a moral compass are left by the side of the road."
I think the "moral Compass" part of your statement is a bit off. Their Compass must be a bit skewed if they continue to elect politicians who are directly opposed to to the the values and needs of the electorate.
3
I live in a hilly part of silverlake, Los Angeles, the streets round here are considered unfixable. US A considers itself the greatest country on earth and yet our streets in one of America’s major cities are reminiscent of those in the third world. They are worse than the those in the photo you use to illustrate the problem in rural areas of the US.
13
@Sarah Caplan
That’s strange. Our streets in the northwestern end of the Valley are routinely fixed and repaved every few years. Have you hounded your councilperson about it? We don’t have steep hills as in Silverlake and we certainly don’t need repaving every few years when places like Silverlake (both areas are in Los Angeles City’s sphere of infrastructure responsibility) needs more work. Maybe there are more loud voices in our zip code. We certainly pay the taxes.
Start hounding your councilperson or start grassroots action against the city. That’s where political action really pays off.
6
Farming is a highly subsidized industry, just like oil and gas. I guess the fear is, that we will all starve, while, at the same time, food waste in the US is off the charts and the population grows more obese every day.
I don’t know about other states, but in Oklahoma, farm vehicle license tags are cut rate and the fuel used for farming is untaxed. On top of that, regulation of the market is rigged in favor of giant corporate farms. It is a totally corrupt, outdated, big money lobbyist driven industrialized system destroying the rural, family farming food production culture in favor of mega rich, multinational corporations, that own the farm land, build the gigantic farm machines, destroy rural roads, pollute water systems with fertilizers and herbicides, practice animal cruelty, produce GMO seeds, avoid paying taxes and serve share holder profit first and foremost. Farming in America has become the poster child for US Capitalism at its worst.
60
The population grows more obese because the cheap food people can afford is often the least healthy.
5
It's not just rural areas. Despite some of the highest (if not the highest) gas taxes in the country, the roads in CT are terrible. Recent efforts to add tolls have met with fierce opposition. CT has been called the crossroads of New England and our interstates and roads show the wear and tear. Something has got to give.
7
Why should we all pay for the damage done by agribusiness? Their local governments should bear the cost. Urban communities have their own local funding pressures.
6
Trempeauleau County voted for Trump by nearly 13 percentage points in 2016. And the GOP legislature voted down the first fuel tax increase in a dozen years.
I’m having a hard time working up any sympathy for these Real Americans.
327
@Another Joe Me too. They voted R and got what they wanted. I guess they should think ahead next time they visit the ballot box.
24
@Another Joe Agreed 100%. Who cares about these, um, 'short-sighted' (much nicer term than I would normally use) individuals. Unable to work up any sympathy whatsoever.
24
@Another Joe
Have to agree about not having much sympathy for this group of Americans...but I am sending my thoughts and prayers out to them - "Thinking of your in your time of need, just like you thought about the children separated from their parents at the border. Praying for you to finally wake up and get with the real program of "Give me your tired, your poor, your weak..."
7
The Core of the Infrastructure problem is at the end of the article. It runs something like „We want nice things, but we want others to pay for them because we are entitled.“
64
@Katrin
Rural Republican Voters are always entitled to exploit the local, state, and national Commons. Farmers get subsides to grow their crops, but when the Working Poor receive subsidies (Food Stamps) to feed their own Children, they are labeled as Freeloaders.
8
Why don’t the people of Wisconsin take this up with the President they elected? The man who promised infrastructure projects but is now using the military budget to build the wall he said Mexico would pay for?
206
Right on, Sandi. Wisconsin voters could start by ousting Ron Johnson, Republican-majority senator and Trump loyalist who should have had Federal money flowing two years ago. Instead, the wall, the cages, the tax cuts, the wider, deeper swamp. Pin any Wisconsin Trumpist against a wall and demand, where are our roads and bridges?
85
@NYCSANDI
Better yet, Wisconsin should adapt a Migrant Worker program, and have thousands of seasonal Mexican workers come up to repave the rural roads for Minimum Wages. Those roads would all be repaved within a couple of years.
But Rural Wisconsinites mostly want Trump's Wall, and still want the right to carp and complain when the roads lie in disrepair.
17
@Ed Pittsburgh
You mean "come from behind victory" Ron Johnson?
The same guy who spent July 4th in Moscow?
yeah, he's gotta go.
4
The obvious first step is to tax vehicles by weight. If large, heavy vehicles are responsible for the most damage then it is a no brainer that they need to pay more - for the damage they cause. The only fix to this problem is money, and it has to come from somewhere.
19
As another commenter points out, blame the lack of a rail system as well as poor infrastructure funding. Then too, why are we not taxing these trucking companies more, since they are doing the most damage to our roads? Ever drive down I-94/I-80 in the Indiana-Illinois corridor? It's truly frightening if you're in a car and these heavy 18-wheelers barrel past you indiscriminately changing lanes and speeding. Road safety should be part of the discussion.
Perhaps if the local governments actually employed workers directly to deal with patching and replacing, money could be saved since you're not paying an outside for-profit contractor to do it. There are solutions, but as long as you keep electing Republicans to office, they will never be employed, much less discussed.
24
Because those large trucking companies are making large campaign donations, that’s why.
2
I live in a very rural part of CA, and I could tell the exact same story. The problem, as I see it, is decades of underinvestment in everything that benefits the common good due to tax cuts. There’s just no money for investment when the richest among us can get out of paying taxes...
I hope I live to see the day when we get our priorities straight as a nation: investing in ALL of our people by investing in public infrastructure, education, and health care. Imagine!
46
It's that last few lines that sums it all up: we want the roads but we don't want to be taxed to pay for them.
The Republican Party should be incredibly proud of the wonderful job it's done brainwashing the American people against their best interests.
Taxes aren't evil! It's simply a way of grouping funds to pay for big projects...like paving roads! And at it's best, our (big, bad) government is there of people we choose to represent the choices we make about our money.
84
@M. Fox
the solution:
buy everyone in the family a 8 mpg truck or SUV;
Bonus points if they "roll coal".
You need to come back to Wi. and I would like to explain to you about MFL land that each county and twonship have lost because of MFL.In buffalo co a township of Montana in 2011 lost 200.000 and this keeps on going up every year.We can't even put on gravel on dirt roads.
3
It's hard for me to feel sympathy when people aren't willing to pay the taxes necessary to fix the problem.
64
@Josef
Right.
Because we all know higher taxes, as in California, goes right into better roads, huh...
The article notes that much of the damage is caused by heavy semi’s and large trucks. I have long believed that every significant-sized corporation should be subject to an infrastructure tax. Many, if not most, pay little or no tax and have gotten a free ride off the backs of individual taxpayers. Whether it’s damaging roads and bridges or paying far below a living wage so that their workers qualify for SNAP and other welfare benefits, corporations need to help pay for what the rest of us subsidize.
32
Good piece on County roads. In WI most lane mileage is on town roads. The funding situation for towns is even less satisfying. And the small fix to boost road revenue is a wheel tax that all vehicles over 4 tons are exempt from. Oh yeah, last year’s excessive rain caused so much damage to town roads (and county and state, too) that many of our road budgets couldn’t be used in maintaining our 80 year roads as we had to raise roads and more simply to provide access.
Yes, we need to build out rail. Yes, we need to build out transit. We need to rethink how we move people and goods. The more than $60 billion annually spent in WI moving people using autos as primary mode is extravagantly wasteful. $25 billion annually would put a bus at 15 minute intervals on every road in the state every hour of day of the year.
18
None of this happens if the nation rejects monoculture. Cheap corn and beans grown for energy and export, not local food, necessitate massive machines, their gigantic footprints and their debt service. Privatize the profits with the lenders. Socialize the risk with the states and their rural lands and peoples. While food systems unravel.
20
Why on earth does it cost $300,000 to do a mile of road!? We really can't come up with anything better than that?
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@Lauren A mile of road is a lot. Consider what it costs to build a little house.
3
@Lauren A mile of road is ~127,000 square feet of asphalt (two 12' lanes at 5,280 feet), or about the floor area of a Costco or Target. Then there is shoulder work that usually goes along with it. And fixing places where potholes occurred (usually due to a problem with the base under the asphalt). And then encountering a drainpipe that needs to be replaced. So $300,000 per mile is not out of line.
The people of Wisconsin obviously need a solution: Cut taxes and spend more on the military.
Pretty soon the whole USA will be as great as Paraguay.
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@Avenue Be
Indeed. Does anyone ever think that its not military prowess that makes a nation great?
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@Avenue Be Better solution: build the roads and get Canada to pay for them.
1
How the State of Wisconsin does not help fund their rural roads is disgraceful. In New York laws were passed in 1898 to allow bonding for roads with state, county and towns sharing in the cost. I drive rural roads in Delaware and Ulster Counties in the Catskill Region and see new pavement on many scenic rural farm roads. I am now reading about Wisconsin's progressive era and the contrast with Scott Walker's and Paul Ryan's reign is very sad. How the state could abandon its rural areas like this is beyond comprehension.
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@Robert Selkowitz I doubt that roads in the Catskills see the kind of massively-heavy loads of loaded combines and grain trucks. Apples and oranges.
@highway Even more reason for the State to provide support, I guess you eat that stuff, too. We still have many active farms in the Catskill region and big trucks are carrying timber and milk and other loads. The Feds should be helping, too, that grain is a major export.
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@highway
I’ve seen plenty of big trucks during trips on New York’s non-interstate roads hauling apples, lumber, equipment, and more. Even so, New York is paving roads and Wisconsin isn’t. It doesn’t matter what each state is hauling; one is raising taxes and fixing roads and the other isn’t.
2
"A proposal last year from Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, for an 8-cent increase was voted down by the Republican-led Legislature, which instead raised vehicle title and registration fees."
Typical. Much easier to get the GOP to approve regressive taxes and fees that hurt the poorest the hardest.
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Actually, the pictures of those roads in Wisconsin look a lot better than the roads here in Oklahoma. Problem is, people in towns and cities don't want to be taxed for roads in county. Until this form of paying for roads is improved or changed, the problem will only worsen.
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@Tom Cotner
I would not totally blame this on city people. I bet there is a huge majority of the people who live along those rural roads that continually vote for "tax cut Republicans" even though it is against their own self-interest.
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@TDD I suspect that is true. However, city and town people far outnumber rural folk by perhaps as much as 100-1. Their votes amount to far more.
When the government moves into areas beyond infrastructure the money goes with it. That’s what has happened. The money is there but now it’s spent on other programs the government has started regulating and controlling like health care.
The great American problem - deeply ingrained reluctance to pay for something that doesn't become the payers personal property.
It's the Republican partys raison d'etre.
277
In some parts of northern Wisconsin once paved roads have been returned to gravel. We Wisconsinites once had some of the best roads in the nation. But now ... as soon as I cross the border ... in any direction, the roads are better. I blame one group ... the Republicans under the sway of Grover Norquist.
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Pretty clear that many of the residents in these regions are easy targets for anti-tax rhetoric by the right, and consistently end up voting against their own self-interests. It’s hard to empathize with ignorance, particularly when much of the south and portions of the midwest already receive a disproportionate amount of federal spending...
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We in Wisconsin do not get a disproportionate share of federal money ... we are net payers, not givers. Our tax money goes to stares more red than Wisconsin (currently) is.
5
No my MidWestern friend we here in New York are paying for your roads. We contribute MUCH more tax dollars that benefit you.
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@Richard Collins That's not true, at least not as of 2017. In 2017, Wisconsin received $1.2 Billion more in federal benefits than it contributed in federal taxes.
https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-taxes-federal-services-difference-by-state-2019-1
5
What's next, a piece titled "The struggle to find affordable cigarettes"? That would be a piece with lots of personal anecdotes about how expensive cigarettes are and NO mention of the health hazards or of the most affordable alternative of all (short of early and quick death) -- not smoking at all.
A much better alternative is to build out rail infrastructure to carry all that freight. Actually, rebuild is more apt because the rail infrastructure was already built once. These same communities, along with the rest of America, discarded it in the opioid rush of cheap gasoline and the automobile.
Two and sometimes four of those legally-loaded semi-trailers doing so much road damage can be quickly and easily driven onto a nearby railcar that is part of a intermodal freight train, where it can be hauled by rail to a port for transfer to a freighter for overseas destination. That is, it could do that if the rail network used by the train was (re)built instead of miles and miles of asphalt.
The economics of freight transportation compellingly favor rail, especially when climate change and environmental impact is reflected in the cost.
Any farmer or government official who actually cares about affordability should be DEMANDING that government invest in freight rail networks rather than highways.
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@BrooklineTom rail is already used. But our rail system also suffers from disrepair and neglect. And how do you think the freight would get to the rail depot in the first place?
We need infrastructure spending, but Republicans won't allow it.
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@Emcd : Of course the SHORT stretches of road needed to access a nearby rail transfer point need to be built. The disrepair and neglect of our rail system is the point of my comment. I enthusiastically agree that we need infrastructure spending, and that the GOP opposes it.
Still, this article is all about HIGHWAY spending -- for mile upon mile of highways. Our redoubled infrastructure spending should reflect a desire for a rational and sane transportation system that builds radial freight access roads around intermodal transportation points and builds rail links that join them.
Those rail links should also include parallel tracks for publicly-funded passenger rail service.
A highway system optimized, designed, built, and maintained for occasional private vehicle use would cost a tiny fraction of the massive investments contemplated by this piece.
3
Vote Democrat, then you'll see investment in infrastructure rather than tax breaks for the 1%.
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The article fails to mention the federal gas tax.
Last raised in 1993 going on 28 years, basically cut by 50% when you add inflation.
Nice subsidy for the car and oil and gas.
At least Americans are consistent in their denial of reality.
Virtually every bridge in the US of A is far behind in maintenance.
But don’t worry, we can cut taxes, revenue will magically go up.
Right?
Kansas , any comment?
Donnie, it worked right? Corp. brought money back , paid bigly taxes, ohhhh maybe not, but NEXT year!
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@HJR
It's state and local taxes - not the Federal gas tax - that maintain the many minor county roads mentioned in the article.
SA
Not that simple, the Feds decline in their portion of funding of roads and bridges, ( interstate) cuts the funds available in the states pot, ie States can not afford to pay for local roads and bridges because the total pot goes down, as a result ALL projects are affected..
County included.
1
Where is that fantastic infrastructure/jobs bill trump and the Republicans promised? And why aren't Republican voters asking that question?
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Isn’t this Infrastructure Week?
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@Richard Collins Why isn't there someone with a microphone with enough guts to ask trump or Mitch McConnell about their fake promise?
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@Richard Collins
I thought there were several infrastructure weeks...he kept announcing it every time the media pointed out some corrupt act associated with his administration.
3
How about taxing each vehicle based on the damage its weight does to roads? Combines would pay far more than a small car to traverse a oad; so would loaded grain trucks.
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@Steve S
A reasonable sounding argument, but it needs a real world caveat. Too often, all across the country, legislatures have spent transportation taxes on everything but road repair. New this or that, bike paths. and all the rest. Unless funds specifically intended for the repair and maintenance of roads can be legally barred from any other use, then those new dollars raised will just go into the same old diverted pots as before.
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@George S
The reason for damage proportional billing is not to provide revenues for road building. Farmers could use smaller grain trucks as in the past; while combines travel few miles, and might be shared by farmers -- rentals across neighboring fields, traveling fewer miles.
In short, higher road costs might spur socially constructive thinking.
5
@Steve S
Combines have a lower loading per square inch of wheel contact than heavy trucks, else they would sink in the fields. I doubt that combines travel 1000 miles a year on the roads, most just go from field to field. Farm equipment is often not subject to vehicle registration laws.
Vehicles tagged "Farm Vehicle" usually have lower licensing fees due to the occasional use of them. How often do you use a grain hauling truck as oppose to a truck used in delivery? I have seen thirty year old grain haulers still in use.
The downside of that argument is usually there are no scales to obey so some seriously overload their vehicles. The word goes out when mobile scales are in use.
5
Wisconsin should lower taxes and privatize roads and allow the hidden hand free market to function unimpeded.
8
Follow that path and the vast majority of our rural communities will be abandoned.
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@alexander michael i'd argue that roads are public goods, and perfectly appropriate for public cost sharing. Some part of the answer is in a reallocation of what we spend resources and money on.
3
@alexander michael Let's also privatize the postal system so we can get rid of all those rural post offices that don't pay for themselves. Or, with Wisconsin land values increasing at levels far above inflation, due to subsidized price supports, subsidized crop insurance, subsidized export markets all adding up to 22 billion dollars of public money, why not tax large scale agriculture and equipment to begin paying back their fare share of resource depletion to help fix the rural infrastructure? Let both hands participate in your hidden hand of the mythological free market.
10
If you think Big Ag is the solution to feeding the world then this is part of the price and you need to pay for it.
Our road was repaved in 2009 and 11 years later it is falling apart from the weight of the manure, silage and milk trucks that travel over it daily. They are all loaded to the maximum (frequently over) weight of 80,000 lbs.
The farmers may pay a price in broken or damaged equipment but they do not pay the price for the actual damage they do to the roads. This is part of the cost of food production and the producers and consumers needs to pay for it.
Steve in Wisconsin
34
@Steve I live in California, home of big ag. They didn't damage the roadway, to save money, it was not engineered for the expected loads. Throwing money away. Riverside County, California has had to upgrade roads around State Highway 86 "The NAFTA Highway" goes to Mexicali. Dozens of ag trucks going to Mexico every hour, literally semi-tankers of milk every 6-10 minutes, 24 hours a day. They use local truck stops and services, to support, roadways have been upgraded or in process.
6
You mean, we’re a society and we all benefit from things like roads and we should all pitch in to help pay for them through our taxes? As an urban liberal, I agree but thanks to voters in places like rural Wisconsin, we have Trump and tax cuts for billionaires. At some point, rural voters will have to decide what’s more important—their own well-being or their hatred of immigrants/gays/blacks/feminists/etc. judging from recent history, the latter will win every time.
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Happy to send money your way via taxation, Steve. It’s what makes our system function, after all. Please, vote for people who will do that instead of run the treasury to pay for stock buybacks.
10
For seventy years Wisconsin had the finest county and towns roads in the nation. The political power of dairy farmers, the logic of getting their production to urban markets, and the political ethos of the day prevailed. The legacy of Fighting Bob La Follette prevailed until the era of the "Politics of Resentment." Now rural areas, more concerned about Milwaukee residents "ripping them off" vote for right wing legislators owned by Grover Norquist, Americans for Prosperity and the Koch Brothers; they are pledged to lower taxes.
389
Wasn’t there also a lot of divide and conquer as well? It seems to me a lot of Scott Walker’s playbook was dividing the middle class government workers from their counterparts in Wisconsin’s private economy, of course except fire and police.
All that caused a fuss while he also sold off lots of government assets to his rich crony friends.
23
@Paul Soglin, former Mayor Madison, WI
I remember those better days growing up in Madison, Mr. Mayor, and you had a lot to do with making people feel we could work together to address our collective challenges. Thank you for everything you've done for Madison and Wisconsin. We need more like you now.
36
@Paul Soglin, former Mayor Madison, WI
Take a look at wages in rural areas and then you will see why we want lower taxes. They eat up more and more of our income every year. And still our property tax has gone up an average of 3% a year for the last 20 years.
Pointing fingers at the "other side" is easy. Finding real solutions is hard.
3
Roads are built initially to certain weight limits. Then the federal government and some states permit heavier vehicles than the roads were built for. Then the Constitution's commerce clause makes it impossible for any state to limit traffic on its roads, so the heavy vehicles break down the roads.
The cause of decaying roads is the truckers' lobby, along with the loss of railroad access and use for freight.
This result has been inevitable for as long as trucks get heavier than roads were designed to handle.
Sstates will repair those roads that get the heaviest use from the largest populations, leaving rural folks (of which I am one) with potholes. States aren't any different from businesses that concentrate on dense populations that can be served for less cost than spread out rural populations.
10
Their now-replaced Republican governor and legislatures did serious harm. Wisconsin used to have great roads and great unions.
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@Mary A
True, but when you look at the dates and time spans involved, it makes clear that not all of this neglect has come from the Republicans, unless you can show unbroken GOP control for 30-70 years. Face it, both parties and their elected officials fall prey to the desire to go for the new and shiny than repairing boring old backroads "no one" will see. You don't see politicians at ribbon cuttings for a repaved rural road!
6
Only the Republican governor has been replaced. Partisan gerrymandering ensures Republicans maintain control of the legislature.
7
At least we have a $738+ Billion pentagon budget and plenty of nuclear weapons.
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@Arthur
And our richest few are enjoying record low taxes. That certainly makes me feel better.
9
@Arthur
And we have plenty of millions to pay the Trump family for his weekend jaunts.
3
The huge vehicles required by huge agri-business damage roads; they also damage the fields by compacting them. Farms that are too big are the problem; they drive down the price of food and put small farmers out of business. We are all responsible for this by our push for the cheapest food possible.
45
@Nora Sorry, not buying it. I didn't have a hand in making those decisions. I like local grown produce, that doesn't have to travel so far, so no, I am not responsible, and I don't push for the cheapest possible food. The producer pushes for the cheapest way to produce it, thus increasing their profits. It's on them.
4
@Nora While I agree with you, I live in this area and can tell you that the farms in this area are still mostly small, family-run operations. The farm mentioned in this article is a small, family-run farm, the type that used to dot this land. Even small operations require big machines and tractor-trailers.
8
@JP Welcome to end stage capitalism, where we exhaust every resource for a .1% profit increase while kicking the can of consequences for those decisions down the road for somebody else to deal with.
18
Excellent story about decaying VISIBLE infrastructure.
Just wait until the bill for INVISIBLE infrastructure — meaning the software systems cobbled together over the past 50-60+ years — comes due.
21
Why did these rural areas disproportionately vote Trump in 2016? He’s the epitome of a coastal elite. Time for Bernie in 2020. Let’s fix the roads.
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@Jonathan I wonder what the ethnic demographic looks like in rural areas compared to Milwaukee, hmmmm.
1
@Jonathan Bloomberg would be a better choice to fix roads.
1
@Jonathan Why do they vote for ANY Republican?
5
states should control and pay for their own farm to market roads. they should also pay for their own schools, sports programs at their own schools and the government should get out of any regulation of same.
the above means that maybe some states have good roads, schools, etc and some states bad programs. isn''t this how it should be?
2
@john boeger Actually, no it's not. These are the UNITED States, and we all depend on one another. Hang together or all hang separately.
25
As a nation, we certainly should encourage innovation and discovery of alternative solutions. But if we as a nation allow ourselves to buy into the idea that we can leave most people behind, we are heading towards a world of chaos. Allowing our infrastructure to fall apart neither gives us Hope or Makes Us Great Again
8
The last sentences sum this problem up perfectly; "What’s really needed, Mr. Rinka said, is a “culture change” in residents and business owners who want good roads but don’t want to pay for them.
Someone will beg to have a road repaired, Mr. Rinka said. “I’ll say, ‘O.K., I’ll fix your road, and you’re going to see an increase in your property tax.’
“‘Oh, no, no,’ they say, ‘I don’t want that.’”"
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@Michelle Ya, but then when you hear about Republican-controlled state legislature wanting to cut income taxes and give businesses a property tax cut this year. You kind of wonder if the money is all going in the right places. If we can afford a tax cut, why can't we afford to repair these roads and not have to increased property taxes for the farmers so much?
62
The same Republican voters and law makers who excoriate ‘fee loaders’ and ‘entitlement’ never want any revenue increase (taxes) for providers of government goods and services. Since 1994, Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist and the lot have consistently vilified any tax increase. Well, if we are going to have nice (or just mediocre) things we will have to pay for them. It would be so simple to do if so many elected officials did not hate the governments they run.
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@Michelle It shouldn't come out of property taxes; everyone uses the roads, including people who don't own property in a specific town or county.
11
Who knew that decades of anti-tax rhetoric and underinvestment in local infrastructure would have repercussions?
523
There is more to this than the anti tax movement. I spend a lot of time in France, and although the French are as reluctant to pay taxes as the next person, they do pay a lot of them. However, the roads pictured in this article would be familiar to the Rural French. Crumbling, irregular, narrow, badly patched up. Where is all the money going? And anyway, last time I was in the US, I thought the interstates badly needed fixing. No wonder everybody wants an SUV, or drives a pickup. They are the only vehicles fit to survive on truly awful roads.
19
@Lucie Roy "No wonder everybody wants an SUV, or drives a pickup. They are the only vehicles fit to survive on truly awful roads."
With the added bonus that those vehicles are getting heavier and heavier and do more damage to the roads! USA! USA!
43
@Frank
These rural folks wouldn't be ones who voted for the current President, would they? Of course, he is going to fix infrastructure, cut taxes and cut debt too! MAGA! This can't be done? What?
50