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More than 800 transportation officials met in Hartford this weekend to talk about challenges facing the nation’s roads and highways.
Hartford is a crossroads of transportation in New England and this year’s site for the national conference of The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The organization’s president Peter Rahn says America has allowed its highways to slowly deteriorate over the past three decades
"Nations like India and China are investing hundreds of billions of dollars a year in their infrastructure to compete against us and we are sitting on our hands letting our roads system crumble."
The nation’s Federal Highway bill expires in 2009. Rahn says reauthorization offers the next president an opportunity to increase investment in transportation, something he says is vital in order for America to remain globally competitive.
Being Antiquated is the Biggest Problem
Our current road system is based on a design that predates the Roman Empire, all we have done is made the horses stronger and faster. In order to bring the system into the 21st century, we need to automate and enclose it. If we did that we could also power the entire system with electricity generated from sources besides petroleum, I advocate solar and wind but any source may be used. Such a system would save more than 40,000 lives every year and could put quite a dent in our "addiction to oil". In addition it should be more efficient, more convenient, faster and self-financing, plus all of the technology required exists today.
City Streets
Please fix the streets in Hartford they are tearing my car apart. I pay my taxes and I have to pay my car note, but it gets harder to pay my car note every month because I always have to turn around and fix something on my car due to these horrible streets in Hartford. My motor mount broke, flat tires, brake calipers loosening, and suspension on my car all were messed up due to these streets. A pothole here, big cracks there, and some glass and nails everywhere. Is there a way to get street cleaners out more than one time a year. Whats going on. This is the capital city and it looks like trash.