The Condition of Bridges and Roads/ Leasing the Ohio Turnpike

10:00...

Four years ago from this upcoming Monday a Minneapolis bridge carrying I-35W over the Mississippi River suddenly collapsed. The bridge was designed to carry 66,000 cars a day, but failed to do so on August 1st, 2007, when it collapsed, killing 13 people and sending 98 to the hospital. This collapse signalled a deeper problem within the infrastructure system for this nation’s bridges and roads. Bridge and road conditions haven’t improved since, as an infrastructure report card from the American society of engineers  gave our highway system a D- …. and it’s been said around 5% of interstate bridges throughout the U.S. have been labeled as structurally deficient. We'll talk more on the current state of our roads and what's being done to fix them- this segment on "All Sides."

Guests:

• Zach Rosenberg (Journalist, Car and Driver Magazine)
• David Ellis (Research Scientist, Texas Transportation Institute)

10:40...

Leasing the Ohio Turnpike has been declared by some as a good way to create revenue for the state, and to improve road conditions. Will it? We'll talk about the pros and cons of leasing the turnpike system, this hour on "All Sides."

Guests:

• Gene Krebs (Co-Director, Greater Ohio)
• Steve Herwat (Deputy Mayor of Operations, Toledo, Ohio)