A Bridge to a New School

The horrible tragedy of the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis is now moving into the second part of the story, from the initial horror to the search for answers to the questions of "why?"

WHY?

Some of the answers aren't pretty. Time Magazine suggests:

• More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in Minneapolis, and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion... It is unclear how many of the spans pose actual safety risks... It is money that Congress, the federal government and the states have so far been unable or unwilling to spend.
• "We're not doing what the engineers are saying we need to be doing," said Gregory Cohen, president of the American Highway Users Alliance, an advocacy group representing a wide range of motorists. "Unfortunately when you consistently underinvest in roads and bridges ... this is the dangerous consequence." "People think they're saving money by not investing in infrastructure, and the result is you have catastrophes like this," said Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., a member of the House transportation committee.

CNN continues the story:

• ... Experts said Thursday that the problem stems from a lack of money and leadership...While the "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete" monikers don't indicate the crossings are treacherous, they do imply serious problems, Stidger said. The Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River during Wednesday rush hour was deemed structurally deficient two years ago.
• Casey Dinges, a staff leader on the report card, said "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete" are technical terms used by the federal government. "Neither one means failure is imminent or that your life is in danger or that you should be afraid to get in your car," he said. "That said, we still have pretty serious concerns about the overall state of the nation's infrastructure." The report also said bringing all the nation's bridges up to snuff would cost $188 billion over the next two decades.
• While the number might sound staggering to some, Dinges says it's "doable. That's simply maintaining what we are doing right now," he said. "New technology, money -- there are resources involved, but I think the big thing is really political leadership, and that has to come at all levels of government," he said. "There has to be an honest discussion about the financial resources it takes to maintain these systems," he said, adding that infrastructure needs to be a priority. There are no Republican bridges. There are no Democratic drinking water purification facilities. We all use these systems," he said. But Stidger said states aren't getting the money they need to repair their roads and bridges. They're forced to resort to a process of "patch, patch, patch and nothing ever gets repaired," she said. She likened the process to putting a Band-Aid on a broken elbow and said, "There's only so much you can do with inadequate funding."

At the risk of being taken to task for comparing an actual tragedy to a potential tragedy, if you do not support the building of a new school to replace the old ones, how would you answer the Time Magazine or CNN reporters, or even Matt Drudge, covering the catastrophic failure of a component of a Morrisville school without resorting to blame shifting hyperbole and hypocrisy? The same set of conditions from Minneapolis exist right here in Morrisville. Money that we're unable or unwilling to spend to invest in infrastructure turns to disaster.

I saw six leaders vote to move forward Monday night. I also saw three others doing nothing, cowering in the corner of the meeting room, consistently voting with a resounding "NO" against progress.

I pray to God that the buildings remain safe until the new school opens, but if you're one of the people unwilling to spend the money on our community learning infrastructure, how would the death or harm of any of the Morrisville students or staff allow you to sleep at night?