Monday, July 19, 2010

Returning Roads to Gravel

Political Animal comments on an apparent trend of cash-strapped states returning asphalt roads back to gravel.  The theme is that this is an example of failure to spend money on necessary infrastructure, which all us good liberals support.

It's possible there's a knee-jerk reaction here.  Many in the administration and in environmental community generally have bemoaned the drop in population in rural areas, particularly when it reflects the growing size of farms, "industrial agriculture".  The fact is, as population thins out, there's less need for roads which can support high volumes of traffic, because there simply isn't the traffic. Roads may be used most by the farm operator who needs to move her equipment from one section to another; sections which used to support multiple families but which no longer have anyone living on them.

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