Paving the way | Flagging investment in Maine's infrastructure costs in numerous ways
Last week, the Washington, D.C., think tank TRIP, or The Road Information Program, released a report with disturbing findings about the condition of Maine’s roads and bridges. Using data supplied by the Maine Department of Transportation, TRIP found that 33% of our state’s bridge inventory is either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. They also found that 25% of Maine’s major roads were classified as being in either poor or mediocre condition in 2008. These are the roads we should be fixing now while there is still something left to fix.
TRIP found that Maine faces a $3.3 billion shortfall between now and 2018 in funding our roads and bridges. That number reflects the difference between the $3.2 billion the state is expected to take in for roads and bridges and the projected $6.5 billion expense to maintain our road network and make needed safety and capacity improvements.
While the costs are staggering, the costs of not acting are even steeper. Using internationally accepted metrics, TRIP calculated the average cost per motorist resulting from poor roads and bridges to be about $250 per year, or $251 million statewide annually. These dollars are extracted from each motorist in the form of tires, bent wheels, broken ball joints and alignments. In fact, one auto shop in southern Maine recently posted a sign warning customers that their front-end alignments would only be warranteed for 30 days due to the poor condition of Maine roads.
The costs can be measured in other ways as well. For each of the past five years, we have averaged 178 traffic fatalities on Maine roads. These fatal accidents occur on un-built rural roads — often nothing more than a paved-over horse and buggy path — at a rate three times greater than they do on modern “built” roads. Repairing these roads is not cheap, however. The Federal Highway Administration has found that for every $100 million invested in safety improvements over a 10-year period, 147 lives will be saved. The FHA and TRIP also report that simple steps, like removing roadside obstacles and realigning roadways, can cut traffic fatalities by two thirds. When we consider the 889 people who lost their lives on Maine roads between 2004 and the end of 2008, any investment in our roads will have the added benefit of reducing a great deal of human suffering.
Unworkable state
Whether the cost is measured in automobile repairs, lost lives or productivity, our crumbling infrastructure is showing the signs of chronic underinvestment. Another manifestation of this underinvestment is the job situation in our construction industry, which accounts for 8% of the country’s gross domestic product and 12% of Maine’s GDP.
While some in Washington have talked about a so-called “jobless recovery,” the reality is that a jobless recovery is a recovery-less recovery. In no place is this more apparent than in the construction industry. A recently released report from Associated General Contractors of America paints a deeply disturbing picture of construction employment in the United States and in Maine.
Across the country, construction unemployment is 16.5%, nearly twice the national overall average. In Maine, the construction industry employed 26,200 people as recently as April, a decrease of 5,600, or 18%, since April 2006 when construction activity in the state peaked. Construction jobs are sought after in Maine because of the relatively high pay. In 2007, Maine construction workers earned an average of $38,600 annually, or about 12% more than all private-sector employees. With an average age in the industry of 48 years, there would be a lot of opportunity for advancement if jobs were available.
AGC of America Chief Economist Ken Simonson and Professor Stephen Fuller of George Mason University recently completed a study and concluded that a $1 billion investment in commercial construction nationally would add about $2.1 billion to Maine’s GDP. Those who work in and around the construction industry know that in addition to the front-line workers, there is a team of engineers, architects, suppliers and insurance agents behind every project. Further, such an investment would create or sustain 8,200 direct construction jobs, with 3,800 more supported through construction materials supply and services. Beyond that, 12,000 other jobs would be induced in other industries when construction industry employees spend their earnings, everywhere from restaurants to retail outlets. In all, a $1 billion investment in Maine’s commercial construction market would create or sustain about 24,000 jobs.
With the price of construction low due to the tight market and stiff competition, Maine policymakers would be well advised to invest now in the infrastructure we already own. It isn’t like we don’t have anything that needs fixing. With a $3.2 billion transportation funding shortfall, the Legislature will have a great opportunity to put people back to work, make our roads safer and get our infrastructure ready for the next wave of recovery.
John O’Dea is executive director of Associated General Contractors of Maine. He can be reached at editorial@mainebiz.biz. You can also read John’s column online at www.mainebiz.biz.
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