A span of the bridge carrying freeway traffic over the Skagit River collapsed Thursday, apparently after an oversized load from Alberta struck the bridge. It鈥檚 amazing that on that busy thoroughfare 鈥� 70,000 vehicles a day use the route 鈥� only a car and a truck pulling a travel trailer went into the river, and no one was killed.
But now Washington faces a $15-million repair bill, and traffic on one of the West Coast鈥檚 busiest highways will be seriously disrupted for months. The effects will be far-reaching 鈥� I-5 is vital to international commerce and tourism in the region 鈥� and will undoubtedly cause delays and confusion for traffic between Seattle and Vancouver. sa国际传媒 travellers and businesses will feel the pain.
Suddenly, the traffic tangles caused by the Craigflower Bridge construction seem to be little more than mere annoyances.
Officials say the Canadian truck striking overhead components of the bridge apparently caused the collapse. While the bridge was built in 1955 and had been classified by the U.S. government as 鈥渇unctionally obsolete,鈥� it had been inspected regularly and was not considered at risk of failing. Still, its obsolete design is a likely factor in the incident.
The bridge collapse is a symptom of the aging of infrastructure throughout North America. Governments at all levels have failed to keep up with deterioration of bridges, roads, water and sewer systems, the things economist Hugh Mackenzie calls 鈥渢he basic nuts and bolts of urban civilization.鈥�
鈥淔or at least the past 20 years, alarms have repeatedly been raised about deteriorating public infrastructure in sa国际传媒 and the threat it poses for the living standards of Canadians in the future,鈥� writes Mackenzie in sa国际传媒鈥檚 Infrastructure Gap: Where It Came From and Why It Will Cost So Much to Close, a technical paper released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in January.
Mackenzie says there鈥檚 a monumental and growing gap between infrastructure work being done and what is needed to keep facilities in good repair and to build for the future. That gap attracts attention only during recessions, when increased work is done for the sake of the construction industry, he says, or to support a priority event like the Olympics.
Governments everywhere are constantly hounded to reduce deficits and keep taxes down. We do not advocate unrestrained spending, nor do we believe in living on credit, but borrowing is usually necessary for capital projects.
Debt accumulated through a succession of operating deficits is corrosive; financing major infrastructure projects is investing in the future. It鈥檚 the difference between buying your groceries with a credit card you can鈥檛 pay off each month and taking out a mortgage for a house you will live in for 40 years.
Putting off needed projects may balance the budget in the short term, but in the long term, it鈥檚 false economy. It costs a lot more to catch up than it does to keep up.
The Johnson Street Bridge was completed in 1924 and the Craigflower Bridge 10 years later, neither designed to carry the quantity and weight of today鈥檚 traffic. They are both essential to the safe and efficient movement of people and goods in the capital region.
While taxpayers might wince at the cost of building new bridges, the municipal governments involved in the decisions to replace the bridges were looking prudently to the future.
