Infrastructure

A water drop and ripples

Why is RI consistently one of the worst states for driving?

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2022 |

It doesn’t make much sense to me.  We’ve got a small state that isn’t terrible for traffic, despite being densely populated.  You’d think local authorities could keep the roads in order. But there it is:  According to WalletHub, the Ocean State is the second-worst state for drivers in the country, after Hawaii. Cost of Ownership &…

More than half of Rhode Island’s roads are unacceptable.

By Justin Katz | December 1, 2021 |

Writing for Uplift Legal Funding, Leesa Davis took data produced by the Biden administration as part of its infrastructure presentation and compared it with total miles of roadway in each state, creating a rank by the percentage of roads in “acceptable condition.  Take a bow, government of Rhode Island:  once again, you’re number 1 for…

A water drop and ripples

Reporters’ repeating PR language for government programs is a pet peeve of mine.

By Justin Katz | November 10, 2021 |

Note this closing paragraph, reported as fact, at the end of Melanie DaSivla’s WPRI report on Rhode Island officials’ glee at the anticipated influx of borrowed money for infrastructure from the federal government: The transformational legislation will also create millions of good-paying, union jobs across the country, reduce inflationary economic pressures, and ease supply chain…

A water drop and ripples

Doesn’t RI have more fundamental financial needs than high-speed rail and an aquarium?

By Justin Katz | November 1, 2021 |

Sometimes RI’s most essential problem (the failure of its insider class to recognize reality) comes at us from all directions.  One example is the call from Joseph Paolino to use the feds COVID gift to Rhode Island government  “to change our economy.”  How? Let’s look at what our state really needs and invest in them…

No Trucks sign at Exit 14 on 95

A questionable RIDOT road sign makes truckers go the long way.

By Justin Katz | October 29, 2021 |

Chris Maxwell of the Rhode Island Trucking Association (RITA) has put out a statement shining a spotlight on the road sign pictured in the featured image of this post: This sign presumably pertains to the weight restriction recently placed on a Route 37 bridge.  The restriction, posted without public notification on October 11, lowered the…

An overpass held up by blocks

The General Assembly’s “Recommendation Portal” is misleading in a way that shows RI’s problems.

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2021 |

The Rhode Island General Assembly is calling its page for information about ideas and proposals related to its federal COVID handout the “American Rescue Plan Act State Fiscal Recovery Fund Recommendation Portal.”  The Associated Press article about the portal maintains that framing: Rhode Island’s legislature has created a website to post the proposals it’s receiving…

A utility pole and wires

Government should focus on its basics to maximize the Internet (and utilities) in RI.

By Justin Katz | October 26, 2021 |

Understandably, the president and CEO of the New England Cable and Telecommunications Association, Tim Wilkerson, is striving to get out ahead of rumors that the state government might give government-run Internet a try.  Not only do such projects have a track record of failure, but also: Rhode Island already is one of the best states in…

A water drop and ripples

Crazy federal spending is how the Left pays its activists.

By Justin Katz | September 27, 2021 |

Nancy Pelosi is swearing that the Democrats’ insanely expensive quasi-infrastructure infrastructure bill will pass this week.  Every time I see these numbers, I remember something I learned during the Obama presidency.  This is how the Left funds its movement — not only union workers but progressive non-profits and others, filtering down to the street level.…

A water drop and ripples

Engineers used “conservative” approach to build post-Katrina levees in New Orleans…

By Marc Comtois | September 3, 2021 |

…and it apparently paid off (relatively speaking).  As the saying goes, we’re all conservative when it comes to things we know about.  So, instead of calculating for a 100 year storm, which was the standard, they took New Orleans’ rather unique vulnerability into account, doubled some crucial numbers and got the defenses designed and built…

A water drop and ripples

While it can wait, the collapsed road in Portsmouth requires investigation.

By Justin Katz | September 2, 2021 |

John DePetro suggests that the collapsed road in Portsmouth due to flooding looks like the result of an earthquake.  Maybe it ought to cause a political earthquake. It looks to me like it follows a storm drain, which puts it in the ballpark of failed infrastructure.  This ought to be investigated to understand what happened…