Infrastructure
It’s an ongoing, multitrillion-dollar challenge to build new and maintain existing infrastructure. This section will explore forward-looking approaches to funding, building and maintaining roads, highways, rail and broadband, as well as water and other utilities.
On April 15, the Trump administration announced the transfer of this swath of land from the Bureau of Land Management to the military. That has effectively made the 180-mile border New Mexico shares with Mexico into an extended military base tied to Fort Huachuca in Arizona.
Jonathan Daniels, an experienced crisis manager, is getting Baltimore’s port back in business.
Michigan’s Homeowners’ Energy Policy Act will take effect in October and will prevent HOAs from blocking the installation of a wide range of energy-efficient measures at their homes. Residents of mobile home communities might be next.
At the current pace of development, the number of public electric vehicle chargers across the nation will outnumber gas stations in about eight years. Many even expect charger momentum to increase, shortening the predicted timeline.
An estimated 9 million water service lines that still carry drinking water to homes and businesses are made of lead throughout the country. Yet an October deadline and a November election could delay replacement.
The proposal would increase property taxes to fund new sidewalks, bike lanes, and other transportation infrastructure. It would replace a $930 million levy expiring this year.
The water was being siphoned at the top of an old coal ash pond for reuse at the Boswell Energy Center in Cohasset, Minn., but escaped after an underground pipe broke. Experts say the risk is low to local drinking water.
Heavy rains on Tuesday threatened failure of the 89-year-old Nashville, Mo., City Reservoir Dam, forcing about 200 people to evacuate their homes. More rain is expected across the region.
The $935.4 million system upgrade will launch on Aug. 1, allowing riders on the Green Line and Mattapan Line trolleys to tap their credit/debit card, phone or watch to pay for fares.
As cars become more fuel efficient and EVs become more prominent, states will not be able to rely on gas taxes for much longer. But some states are considering fees on Amazon deliveries as part of their road-funding solution.
The lost water costs the cities millions and heightens the state’s water supply challenges.
Slow rollout of the federal program has frustrated lawmakers, especially those in Michigan, which received $110 million through fiscal year 2026 for EV expansion but has funded no new power stations.
Frank White was a Hall of Fame second baseman for the Royals. As county executive, he persuaded voters that sales taxes for a new stadium were a bad idea.
Since 2010, 149 rural hospitals across the U.S. have either closed or stopped providing in-patient care. Often, communities are left with the empty husk of a hospital, but some communities have found ways to repurpose the buildings.
Urban interstate highways displaced hundreds of thousands of households, destroyed neighborhoods and enforced racial segregation, and they continue to harm low-income communities. We need to ameliorate this tragic history.
States are spending about $20 billion of the flexible funding from the American Rescue Plan Act on water infrastructure. Demand is expected to grow in coming years.
Many cities view rail transit as an enticing boost to civic fortunes. But there’s a better, cheaper way to accomplish the same thing.
Two of the best alternatives for user-paid infrastructure are toll roads and variable-fee express lanes. States with fast-growing populations are embracing toll projects because they can't wait for federal funding, and private capital is eager to invest.
They not only provide access to green space but make diverse communities feel safe and welcome, as a popular park in St. Paul, Minn., demonstrates.
The Florida county has begun using a drone to spray hard-to-reach areas to control mosquito populations more efficiently. Already in 2024, there have been seven cases of locally- acquired dengue virus.
A state House committee voted 8-3 to pass a cluster of bills that would devote billions over 10 years to Michigan’s economic development and transit. But Democrats will need at least one Republican to vote to pass the package.
A new commission appointed by Maine Gov. Janet Mills will explore ways to make state infrastructure more resilient to climate change.
In 2012, the city was spending five times more on sewers than it was on drinking water. In 2017, it was losing an increasing amount of water to leaky pipes. Last month’s crisis reiterated a history of jumping from crisis to crisis without fixing long-standing issues.
The Petroleum Products Corporation Superfund site in Pembroke Park acted as a dumping ground for an oil-processing and refining facility from 1957 to 1971. Now it’s one of the nation’s worst hazardous waste dumps.
Climate and weather disasters are more frequent and more costly. What can be done to keep insurers viable and property owners protected?
A pilot program will develop generative artificial intelligence tools to investigate near misses of injuries and deaths on California roads to locate hazardous areas and reduce traffic.
Federal mandates that steer contracts to unionized companies exacerbate the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage. Taxpayers lose when responsible contractors that do a quality job at the best price are frozen out.
A new order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeks to prod longer-term planning to address growing power demands and the transition to renewables.
The Army Corps of Engineers is expected to have the Port of Baltimore’s main channel fully open by June 10. To meet the deadline, large pieces of the Key Bridge’s steel truss must be removed from the waterway to ensure boat safety.
Private and government organizations are looking for ways to use technology, including networks of satellites, to improve anticipation and prevention of wildfire activity.
A new report tracked pedestrian fatality rates in the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Almost all of them are becoming more dangerous.
