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.
Only 22 states meet recommended security standards. But some states have come up with new approaches on their own.
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.
There are powerful arguments against cities spending lots of money on professional sports. On the other hand, the prestige of having home teams carries some tangible benefits.
The electricity company National Grid will invest billions over the next five years in an effort to achieve the state’s climate goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels.
The 3,150 square-foot home recently hit the market in Burton, Texas, for $760,000. The printing company, Hive3D, is working on other 3D-printed housing options, including short-term rental “casitas” in Round Top.
Some interest groups don’t like project labor agreements, but new research shows that they benefit taxpayers and the construction industry while strengthening our skilled trade workforce.
The Louisiana Department of Health found that 81 percent of the state’s population were serviced with A or B grade water systems. But 115 of the state’s systems, mostly in rural areas, were ranked with a D or F.
The state’s TEXpress lanes aim to keep traffic moving at least 50 miles per hour using the tollway’s managed lanes’ dynamic pricing. Fees will change frequently depending on the amount of congestion in the free lanes.
Tampa Electric has called for a new rate structure that would shift the economic onus from the utility’s largest customers to residences and smaller businesses, resulting in a potential rate increase of $200 monthly.
Electricity demand in Northwest states is expected to grow more than 30 percent in the next decade, partly due to the rapid expansion of data centers across the region.
Wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph contributed to multiple power outages across the Colorado Springs area that left thousands without power and resulted in multiple school closures on Monday.
