Does the Impression that the Condition of Highways and Rest Areas Leaves on Out-of-State Travelers Matter? — A Short Comment on Crumbling Transportation Infrastructures

© 2012 Peter Free

 

07 July 2012

 

 

If a state’s transportation infrastructure is decrepit and/or poorly designed, does it leave an unfavorable impression that invites disrespect?

 

When I drive across a number of states in sequence, I notice that some have excellent highways and well-designed rest areas and others do not.  The difference is often striking.

 

The contrast (I suspect) says something about “state mentality,” in much the same way that a home’s maintenance and appearance says something about the people who live there.

 

 

Recently traveled examples of what I mean

 

Take the center of the country.

 

The consistently worst of this group are Colorado and Oklahoma, both which seem to have made a pattern of watching their transportation infrastructures crumble.  Leave either of these states in any direction, and you will be impressed with the improvement.

 

Having lived in both places for extended periods, I tired of the “no new taxes” mentality that effectively mandates that drivers watch roads and bridges rot under their wheels.

 

At the opposite pole are Kansas, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming all of which seem to take pride in their well-maintained state-funded primary roads.

 

 

Infrastructure does not need to be crumbling to make a bad impression

 

Probably unfairly, I sometimes leave a state thinking that it is controlled by idiots.

 

For example, last week, I noticed that Illinois’ I-80/94 tollway had been idiotically designed (from both directions) to funnel cash-payers into only one lane, before again spreading them out into three toll lanes.  Apparently this arrangement was the consequence of the department of transportation’s wish to reward pass-holders with three through lanes of their own.

 

The consequence of this bit of engineering stupidity is hazardously sudden braking and unnecessary traffic jams, both of which defeat the Interstate highway system’s fundamental purposes.

 

Indiana’s I-80/90 toll road is not much better.  You pay your fee and are rewarded (at least at the west end) with a miles-long series of cobbled together rough expansion bumps.  In essence, you are paying a toll so that you can beat your vehicle to death.

 

 

Speaking of intelligence — rest areas as indicators of “community values”

 

Wisconsin has exceptionally attractive rest areas that are combined with restrooms designed with infectious disease control in mind.  Iowa also pays attention to the latter. The majority of states do not, even though the necessary measures are simple and cost no more than doing it the wrong way.

 

 

The moral? — Perhaps like “broken windows” policing, a state with a crappy transportation infrastructure invites deserved disrespect

 

I see little that is morally or aesthetically compelling in living in a literally crumbling house.

 

Many Americans obviously disagree.