Holes In The Plan

On your work commute, the drive to the grocery store or the drive to the school to pick up your kids, you and your automobile have an enemy out there.  They’re as common as traffic signs and at times – and miserable so - your lane’s dotted lines.  By the end of your trip, your resolve as well as your car could be in need of repair. 

Its the infamous, dreaded pothole and we’re seeing more of them throughout our region.  They’re a waste of our time.  They’re a waste of our money – up front (as in I thought we’re paying to fix these) and after the fact (as in fixing a flat tire).    

Via the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower set the United States on track for improved mobility for commerce and the military and for Chevy Chase and his family to travel from the Chicago area to Wally World in Los Angeles.  Build it and they will come.  Maybe some evolutions were overlooked that could have saved us the frequent DC/Baltimore Beltway traffic jams but the original plan was essential to surge ahead in the world market.  Well done.

Like your home and your automobile, add something and it leads to more maintanance.  More maintenance means spending more money.  Families and neighborhoods are struggling.  States are struggling.  The nation is struggling.  We built the roads but now they’re slowly breaking us down.  Quite frankly, they’re a disaster.  Look at these stats…

 Maryland ... 32,321 Miles of Public Roads ... 20% Roads in Poor Condition

Pennsylvania ... 119,771 Miles of Public Roads ... 15% Roads in Poor Condition

Virginia ... 74,461 Miles of Public Roads ... 6% Roads in Poor Condition

Washington D.C. ... 1,501 Miles of Public Roads ... 95% Roads in Poor Condition

 Source:  www.whitehouse.gov/rebuild-america

Virginia, good work.  The rest of us have to catch up.  We’re look at you D.C.  During a past life as a strength coach, I’d hear and deliver “Don’t lose sight of what got you here.”  Those words don’t apply everywhere but they apply here.  Road maintenance builds jobs.  Proper roads build jobs.  Jobs build a strong economy.  A strong economy builds a strong country.  America, fix the roads. 

Back to the neighborhood level, you know that pothole.  There’s a pothole that’s famous in my neighborhood.  Imagine if it was a tip cup.  The neighborhood would fill it and fix it.  America, fix the roads.