Word: highway
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Roads. Even the 41,369-mile federal Interstate Highway System, which has no equal anywhere, is going to potholes. More than 40% of its mileage has already exceeded its planned 20-year safe life. By 1990, three-fourths of the system will have passed that age. At the moment, 10% (more than 4,000 miles) is considered in need of immediate resurfacing. An additional 30% (12,000-plus miles) is rated in only fair condition, meaning that it is "barely adequate" to handle traffic at the 55-m.p.h. maximum speed. The even older 260,000-mile "primary" network...
...highway rated poor represents more than a safety hazard. It slows traffic and beats up the vehicles that use it. The Highway Administration has found that operating costs for an average car climb 35% when it uses routes rated poor rather than good...
Soaring costs of labor and materials have aggravated the road problems. In Georgia, where the state is able to repair and properly maintain only 10% of its 18,000 miles of highways each year, maintenance costs have risen 42% since 1977. Just to put a 1½-in. layer of new asphalt on 2,000 miles of highway costs $60 million. Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Richard P. Braun contends that at present spending levels, the state will not be able to rebuild its 12,000 miles of trunk highways until the year 2354, at least three centuries too late...
Bridges. A road, of course, is only as safe as its shakiest bridge. The Federal Highway Administration reports that one-third of the nation's nonfederal bridges and 10% of those built with federal funds are "structurally deficient." That means that 23% of the 574,000 bridges in the U.S. are considered safe only for cars and light trucks. Heavier vehicles have to be routed around them. The cost of repairing or replacing all of these marginally safe spans is estimated at $47.6 billion...
...taxes and fees than has the Federal Government. From 1959 until it was finally hiked this week, the federal gas tax had remained at a meager 4?, and in 1959 dollars had actually decreased to 1.4?. Through all the years of relative prosperity, Presidents and Congress had given federal-highway users virtually a free ride...