CLEVELAND — While a report card grade of "C" might not win an aspiring student a ton of praise, it does when it shows improvement over a previous grade of "C-" and a grade before that of "D+." That's what the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) found when putting together its once every four year report card on the nation's infrastructure.
Eighteen categories were studied, from aviation and bridges to transit and wastewater. The grades ranged from a "B" for ports to a "D" in stormwater and transit. The good news is that for the first time since 1998, no report card categories saw a rating of "D-," with eight categories seeing grade improvements.
"We certainly would prefer to see more increases in that of betterment increase as well, but we're happy to have the highest grade in the history of the report card," said Ana Tijerina Esquino of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
She said the investments made under the $1.2 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are a big reason for the improvement. Something former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told News 5 in 2021 represented the most significant single investment in America's infrastructure since the post-World War II Eisenhower years.
"This is good news for Cleveland; this is good news for America," Buttigieg said of the program that has delivered to Ohio close to $13 billion, $10 billion just for roads and bridges.
"In Ohio alone there are more than a thousand bridges in poor condition and nearly 5,000 miles of highway that are in poor condition," he said.
The White House estimated those poor roads cost the average Ohio driver more than $500 a year in vehicle repairs. The state was awarded a "C-" in the last state-specific report card in 2021. What might we expect when Ohio is rated later this year? Improvements are likely following the national trend, especially in the area of roads and bridges.
"As Ohio is a major, major both freight mover and people mover through their roads and bridges. I think that will be very heavily impacted," said Tijerina Esquino.
ASCE projects a $3.7 trillion gap between current planned infrastructure investments and what must be done to have the nation's infrastructure in good working order — an increase from the $2.59 trillion gap reported four years ago.
In January, the Trump administration froze some of the remaining funds in the Infrastructure and Jobs Act pending a review. The engineers are hopeful they will be restored but say any delays are bad.
"For infrastructure, it really, really matters. I mean, large projects can lose millions of dollars, become significantly more expensive just with pauses. So we do want to see that sustained investment and we're going to work with our legislators and really those that will listen to make sure that we get that sustained investment," Esquino said.
