Infrastructure $$ can be lowered

With our elected officials, the solution is always the same: Throw more taxpayer money at it. Such is the response with our transportation infrastructure. When a private business contemplates a price increase, it first looks for opportunities to lower product cost. That such should be the case for Tennessee and the federal government.

Nearly half of federal highway dollars (similar for states) is expended for “administration” — layers of supervision and “process” that sap resources but provide minimal value. When projects are let, rules essentially eliminate the “lowest bid” award criteria while project controls result in lucrative “supplements” in nearly all projects.

And, when incumbents slip “pork” into re-election campaigns, transportation funds may be diverted to non-highway — and increasingly non-transportation — projects.

While Tennessee already enacted a higher fuel tax, an initiative that reduces administrative burden and lowers the unit cost of construction must be undertaken. Meanwhile, federal laws that purge valueless administration, set valid project management and performance criteria, and eliminate outrageous wage mandates must be enacted.

The cost of infrastructure can be reduced 30-40 percent. Unfortunately, it won’t happen unless our legislators turn their attention from self-service to public service. R.G. Kirn Soddy-Daisy