Let's Plan To Get It Right This Time

Minneapolis Bridge/Hurricane Katrina Anniversary Guest Op-ed

By Paul Farmer, FAICP

It was a year ago that 13 people lost their lives in the stunning rush-hour collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis. Families and friends were forced to reckon with the tragedy, while the region faced months of disruption to its transportation network. In the rest of the country, we shook our heads in disbelief, and scrambled to figure out just how weak our own roads and bridges really were.

The pattern was much the same in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit and the subsequent levee failures brought unimaginable human devastation and fresh attention around the nation to our vulnerable infrastructure.

Since then, Minneapolis and New Orleans have each made remarkable strides in their rebuilding efforts. Unfortunately, fixing a bridge here and a levee there isn't good enough if we hope to avoid more August catastrophes. The risks posed by our aging infrastructure are just too great.

But the problem that plagues us isn't just our now-crumbling infrastructure. It's also our near-total failure to plan how to deal with the situation. We need a long-range, comprehensive approach if we are to tackle the crisis that confronts what is truly the backbone of the country. Communities must stand up for themselves, refusing to short-change their own safety and prosperity — and demanding that their leaders invest in an infrastructure for the 21st century. And they need to do it now — the U.S. cannot afford to fall further behind globally in modern infrastructure.

The federal transportation bill, set to be reauthorized next year, presents a perfect time to act. The new version of this important legislation should end the current bias toward highways, putting all our transportation systems, including light and heavy rail, commuter trains and buses on an equal footing when it comes to allocating funds.  We look forward to hearing what the Presidential candidates have to say on this and other pressing infrastructure issues.

There are signs that we are on the right track. This year's high gas prices have shown that Americans are willing to increase their use of public transportation. It's also encouraging to see that the new I-35W bridge across the Mississippi in Minneapolis will be able to accommodate light rail, ultimately adding to the system recently begun with the very successful Hiawatha light rail line, which  connects downtown to the airport.

The shift away from asphalt won't just be good for our bank accounts; it's also good for the environment, helping to reduce both the miles people drive each year and our dependence on foreign oil. In addition, greater use of public transit will reduce the stresses on roads and bridges, buying more time to overhaul these structures. Americans want transportation choice and it's time that we deliver options.

There are other steps we can take as well, like building more compact cities. But these are complicated issues that require us to set priorities though planning, especially because we simply cannot expect to come up with the $1.6 trillion the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates we need to spend over the next five years to bring our infrastructure up to date.

Planners daily assist in helping the federal government and local communities sort through competing demands. We are city and regional experts, with experience fixing up distressed neighborhoods, looking after the needs of the young and the aging, and getting people to work together to build better communities where generations of Americans can thrive. We bring together a wide array of players to address the most important needs for the greatest number of people — at the lowest cost. It's what planners do, and it's what needs to happen if we are to make the tough choices that lie ahead.

In New Orleans, for example, good public policy may require some tough love. If it is impossible — for economic or political reasons — to build levees that can withstand a future Katrina-like hurricane, then we shouldn't encourage people to locate their homes in areas that are vulnerable to flooding.

But we need to look beyond these two cities. Around the country and in Washington, our leaders need to get this right. If they don't, we may face another unpleasant August anniversary.

Paul Farmer, FAICP, is executive director and chief executive officer of the American Planning Association, and a former planning director for the City of Minneapolis.