How to Kill the Great American Highway
Proposals to fund new infrastructure through public-private partnerships and user fees could strangle roadside businesses and limit new construction.
Just you, the great open road, and a toll booth.
Photographer: Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images
As President Joe Biden and the Republicans haggle over the real definition of infrastructure, some in the latter camp have raised the possibility of using public-private partnerships to pay for new projects. The government would get new roads and bridges funded by private companies, which would then collect a share of the "user fees" charged to people who drive on them. But the proliferation of toll roads across some parts of the U.S. is already doing damage to the national freeway system.
The U.S. interstate highway system is one of the marvels of the modern world. You can question whether it was a good idea to base transportation in this country around automobiles, but the sheer scale of the achievement, and the economic activity it generated, is not in doubt. Yet it’s only one piece of our vast network of highways.