opinion

Where will Iowa get money to repair troubled bridges?

In his first State of the Union address, President Donald Trump called on Congress to produce legislation that would invest at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure. His goals include building “gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land.”

One of Iowa’s greatest infrastructure needs is less glamorous: Repairs to our existing, aging bridges.

This state has more significantly troubled bridges than any other state in the country, according to a January report from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, a group that advocates for investment in transportation infrastructure.

Of Iowa’s 24,215 bridges, 5,067, or about 21 percent, are classified as structurally deficient. Six are located on interstate highways.

Bridges are regularly rated for safety on a scale of 0 to 9, with 9 meaning “excellent.” To be considered structurally deficient, one of its major components must measure 4 or below. This does not necessarily mean they are unsafe, but they need to be fixed.

Iowa officials have identified needed repairs on more than 15,000 bridges. Over the past decade, 2,142 new ones have been constructed and 303 have undergone major reconstruction, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. Yet this state has many infrastructure needs competing for funding. Over the last five years, bridge investment in Iowa has accounted for 24.9 percent of highway and bridge contract awards, a lower percentage than the national average.

More money is needed to ensure cars and trucks can safely travel every road, including those crossing water, ravines and drainage ditches. But where will those dollars come from?

The federal government is hardly in a position to provide it. Trump recently signed a tax reform bill starving Uncle Sam of $1.5 trillion — the same amount he wants for infrastructure investments.

He believes a mere $200 billion from Washington can be turned into $1.5 trillion by leveraging local and state dollars and private investments. According to a leaked draft of his proposal, the federal money would be used for, among other things, incentives that fund a small portion of the total project cost.

Who would provide the dollars to repair the Centennial Bridge in Scott County crossed daily by 32,300 vehicles? Or the bridge at Second Avenue and Birdland Drive in Des Moines built in 1970? Are businesses or local governments going to bankroll repairs to the structure over a drainage ditch in Webster County?

The vast majority of Iowa’s structurally deficient bridges are located on rural, local roads. Cities and counties, generally responsible for maintenance, are not exactly swimming in dough. The state, facing its own budget problems, has none to spare either.

Trump is right to seek investments in infrastructure. Yet rather than a gleaming new railway, Iowa needs funding to repair the existing troubled bridges crossed 1.3 million times each day in this state.

This editorial is the opinion of The Des Moines Register’s editorial board: David Chivers, president; Carol Hunter, executive editor; Lynn Hicks, opinion editor; and Andie Dominick, editorial writer.