Breaking down, building up

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Breaking down, building up - Years of neglect and underfunding. Lots of future needs. Ten projects show what's at stake for the nation's roads, bridges, ports and rails.

The man running through Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station in late 1910 hoped to buy a very special ticket – the first sold for a train ready to traverse a new tunnel beneath the Hudson River. The engineering feat linking New Jersey and New York City would instantly transform the lives of thousands of commuters.

More than a century later, the tunnel is still in use, an emblem of how the country's critical infrastructure rests on work carried out generations ago.

Much of that infrastructure is on the decline and badly showing its age. The highways built mid-century as an extensive interstate system are hampered these days by outdated road designs that contribute to crashes and congestion. The bridges that are essential connections within urban and rural areas often face costly repairs or even replacement. Public transit systems haven't kept up with growth or changing travel patterns, leaving Americans ever more dependent on cars to get around.