{"id":27459,"date":"2021-11-08T05:21:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T05:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=27459"},"modified":"2021-11-10T10:49:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T10:49:18","slug":"bridges-bike-lanes-electric-car-chargers-and-more-5-essential-reads-on-the-infrastructure-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/bridges-bike-lanes-electric-car-chargers-and-more-5-essential-reads-on-the-infrastructure-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridges, bike lanes, electric car chargers and more: 5 essential reads on the infrastructure bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jennifer Weeks<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After months of debate and negotiation, Congress has passed a sweeping measure to upgrade many parts of the nation\u2019s infrastructure<\/a>. The bill provides US$1.2 trillion in funding, including $550 billion in new federal spending; the rest renews and updates existing transportation programs, such as highway construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the bill is smaller than President Joe Biden\u2019s original $2.6 trillion request<\/a>, it still represents the largest federal investment in U.S. infrastructure in over a decade. A statement from the White House<\/a> asserts that the legislation will \u201cdrive the creation of good-paying union jobs and grow the economy sustainably and equitably.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These five articles from our archives analyze some infrastructure needs that will receive new funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Fixing crumbling bridges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The infrastructure bill provides $110 billion to fix thousands of aging roads and bridges across the U.S. That money will be especially welcome in Alaska<\/a>, where climate change is thawing permafrost \u2013 accelerating corrosion of steel bridges \u2013 and melting river ice that many people used to cross by snowmobile. Fewer than half of the state\u2019s bridges are deemed to be in good condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the ice is unstable or unpredictable, people who rely on crossing the river are stuck and the risk of snowmobile fatalities rises,\u201d a team of engineers<\/a> and<\/a> social<\/a> scientists<\/a> from Penn State University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks<\/a> report. \u201cFederal infrastructure investment could help direct funds to rural bridges that might otherwise continue to deteriorate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read more: Infrastructure bill passed by Congress promises billions for bridge repair \u2013 rural Alaska shows the growing need as temperatures rise<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Building a 21st-century power grid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Energy experts widely agree that the U.S. needs to upgrade its electric grid so that it can deliver power more reliably over long distances and integrate more renewable electricity into the nation\u2019s energy mix. The infrastructure bill contains $65 billion to update and expand the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting the fragmented U.S. power system into what\u2019s known as a macrogrid \u2013 a network that can move electricity seamlessly from one end of the U.S. to the other \u2013 could actually save money<\/a>, according to Iowa State University electrical and computer engineering professor James McCalley<\/a>. That\u2019s true even though it would mean adding hundreds of megawatts of new generating capacity and new transmission lines to connect those power plants to customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy making it possible to share power across regions and deliver high-quality renewable power from remote areas to load centers, the macrogrid would more than pay for itself,\u201d McCalley writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read more: The US needs a macrogrid to move electricity from areas that make it to areas that need it<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4KJE3POgWSc?wmode=transparent&start=0 The U.S. electric grid is an engineering marvel, but it\u2019s also outdated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Making streets safer for walkers and bikers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The infrastructure bill provides $11 billion for measures designed to make highways and streets safer. That includes investments to improve features that protect pedestrians and cyclists, like updated sidewalks, bike lanes and street crossings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Rennie Short<\/a>, an urban policy expert at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, says these measures are overdue<\/a>. \u201cIn the 21st century, a new city ideal has emerged of a more bike-friendly, walking-oriented city. But piecemeal implementation of bike lanes, pedestrianized zones and traffic calming measures often just adds to the confusion,\u201d he writes. \u201cMore people are being killed because cities are encouraging residents to walk and bike, but their roads are still dominated by fast-moving vehicular traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read more: Why US cities are becoming more dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. More EV charging stations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Experts widely agree that slowing climate change requires a massive global shift from fossil fuels to low- and zero-carbon energy sources. That transition is underway in the auto industry, where carmakers are pouring billions of dollars into new electric vehicle designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the EV revolution faces a critical speed bump: not enough public charging stations<\/a>. The infrastructure bill includes $7.5 billion to expand the existing U.S. network, which today exists mainly in coastal states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stanford University historian Paul N. Edwards<\/a> calls this funding \u201ca small but genuine down payment on a more climate-friendly transport sector and electric power grid, all of which will take years to build out.\u201d While the upfront cost may seem high, Edwards notes that \u201cover the long term, the potential savings from avoided climate risks like droughts, floods, wildfires, deadly heat waves and sea level rise would be far, far larger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read more: Climate change is an infrastructure problem \u2013 map of electric vehicle chargers shows one reason why<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5. Reconnecting divided neighborhoods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most funds in the infrastructure bill are for building new facilities or upgrading those that already exist. But the legislation also provides $1 billion for tearing down highways<\/a> that have cut off Black residents and other people of color from the cities around them, reducing their access to transportation, jobs and economic opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Over 115,000 readers rely on The Conversation\u2019s newsletter to understand the world.<\/em> Sign up today<\/a>.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we see it, this funding represents a down payment on restorative justice: remedying deliberate discriminatory policies that created polluted and transit-poor neighborhoods like West Bellfort in Houston, Westside in San Antonio and West Oakland, California,\u201d write urban policy scholars Joan Fitzgerald<\/a> at Northeastern University and Julian Agyeman<\/a> at Tufts University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Fitzgerald and Agyeman see it, removing barrier highways alone won\u2019t be enough to transform disadvantaged neighborhoods. But dismantling what they call \u201cracist infrastructure\u201d could catalyze other investments in housing, transportation and green spaces that would make these communities healthier and more prosperous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read more: Removing urban highways can improve neighborhoods blighted by decades of racist policies<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Editor\u2019s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation\u2019s archives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Weeks<\/a>, Senior Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Weeks, The Conversation After months of debate and negotiation, Congress has passed a sweeping measure to upgrade many parts of the nation\u2019s infrastructure. The bill provides US$1.2 trillion in funding, including $550 billion in new federal spending; the rest renews and updates existing transportation programs, such as highway construction. While the bill is smaller […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":27460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[277,4],"tags":[9176,10781,10780,4979,3643,139,9167,2717,2275,10778,9381,865,2021,7967,10779,1538,10782,2496],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27459"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27489,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27459\/revisions\/27489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}