President Trump’s America is one of prosperity and revival of the economic engine our country once was. Over the past few decades, our roads and bridges have fallen into disrepair. We have lost countless jobs to other countries as the government’s overreach and regulatory burdens became too much to bear. The priorities of our country’s new administration rival those of some of the greatest administrations in our nation’s history, especially that of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In 1919, President Dwight D. Eisenhower participated in the first ever Transcontinental Motor Convoy as a member of the U.S. Army. Bridges cracked and were rebuilt; vehicles became stuck in mud, and equipment broke, but when the convoy completed the journey from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, they received a warm welcome. The trek that took nearly two months to complete can now be completed in about 41 hours.
This was just the kind of experience that led President Eisenhower to sign the Federal-Aid Highway Act (National Defense Highways Act) into law in 1956. This Act authorized $25 billion for the construction of 41,000 miles of interstate over a ten-year period, making it the biggest public works project in American history up to that point. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, by 1969, just thirteen years after being approved by Congress, 42,755 miles of interstate had been completed.
Sadly, it would be impossible for us to pave this many miles in a thirteen-year period today because of the bureaucracy and amount of red tape that must be cut to even get started. In fact, it could take up to ten years for us to pave only five miles of road due to federal regulations and processes, like those under the National Environmental Policy Act, which can take five to seven years to review. I want to be clear that I am not disregarding the importance of studying the environmental and social impacts associated with new road construction. However, when it takes that long to get clearance to begin a project, it’s likely the agencies in charge are searching for a problem that doesn’t exist. If a problem is not found within the first six months of a study, the project should be given permission to start construction.
Fortunately for the United States, we have a new president who vows to tackle our crumbling transportation infrastructure while creating millions of new jobs in the process. President Donald Trump vowed that he will work to cut the bureaucratic red tape associated with new infrastructure projects by streamlining permitting and approvals and improving the project delivery system.
I’m eager to see the full transportation infrastructure package once it’s completed as well as the return on investment with businesses coming back to the United States and money being reinvested into our economy.
to your business!