Fixing The 1,000 Mile Pothole

State governors are risking their political capital on mega-fix-it projects at the statewide level, from the "Trans-Texas Corridor" to a $222 billion California infrastructure improvement plan.

1 minute read

January 19, 2006, 10:00 AM PST

By David Gest


In addition to Texas and California, in states like New York, Virginia and Idaho, "governors -- and in some cases the candidates vying to replace them -- are pushing multibillion-dollar solutions to chronic highway traffic and other big infrastructure problems."

"These mega-proposals from state leaders reflect many economic and political currents, including bigger revenue projections from an improving economy in many states, unexpected congressional largesse in last year's $300-billion highway bill, and polling that indicates voters are fed up with traffic.

But they also represent a clear gamble on a sort of fix-the-potholes theory of campaigning, in which many state leaders seem willing to risk the big-spender tag for the big-fixer mantle."

Tuesday, January 17, 2006 in The Los Angeles Times

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