State’s public infrastructure needs work

The partial collapse of the roof at Johnson Creek Junior and Senior High School last month and the collapse of a roof sheltering the Stoughton School District’s buses are the latest in a series of troubling reminders about the state of Wisconsin’s public infrastructure.

The issue of how well our roads, public buildings and other infrastructure systems are prepared to handle growing service demands captured national attention in August with the tragic collapse of the Interstate 35 West bridge in Minneapolis. The catastrophic structural failure left 13 dead and more than 100 injured.

While Wisconsin’s bridges are considered safer than the national average, a recent report by the Wisconsin section of the American Society of Civil Engineers notes that the state needs to invest some $1.75 billion in state and local bridge projects alone by the year 2020. That figure doesn’t include the $2.8 billion for road and bridge projects planned for Milwaukee and the southeastern part of the state.

But bridges are just one element of the complex infrastructure system we all rely on for the safety and wellbeing of our families as well as the economic vitality of the state. From energy and telecommunication systems to transportation links, municipal water works and education, infrastructure is all around us and directly affects most everything we do.

A 2007 report card on Wisconsin’s infrastructure issued by the state chapter of civil engineering group paints a disturbing picture of what the future may hold. The state’s overall grade slipped to a “C’’ from our last grade of “C-plus’’ in 2003, with declines in bridges (B- to C); drinking water (C-plus to C); municipal wastewater facilities (B-plus to B-minus); roads (C-minus to D-plus); solid waste (B to B-minus) and stormwater (C-plus to C).

Just three areas – contaminated sites (C-plus to B-minus); energy (C to B) and rivers and dams (D to C-minus) improved in the 2007 report.

So, what do the people of Wisconsin think about all of this?

A recent Wood Communications Group Checkpoint Survey shows public perceptions about the state’s infrastructure are significantly out of alignment with the assessment of the experts. The Checkpoint economic and public affairs survey of 400 state residents was conducted Nov. 29 to Dec. 4 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

According to survey, 76.3 percent of state residents gave “excellent’’ or “good’’ ratings to the status of our public facilities, while 74.3 percent of state residents gave “excellent’’ or “good’’ ratings to our energy infrastructure. The educational system received “excellent’’ or “good’’ ratings from 73.6 percent. Transportation was next, with 70.8 percent scoring it as “excellent’’ or “good,’’ followed by telecommunications with 65.3 percent and water systems, with 60.1 percent offering high ratings.

When respondents were asked to rate the importance of the different infrastructure systems in maintaining their quality of life, education received the most support, with 75.3 of residents giving educational infrastructure systems the highest scores. Following education was energy, with 73.5 percent giving it high scores; water and sewer, with 70.3 percent awarding high scores; transportation with 64.5 percent; and telecommunications with 62 percent awarding the category high performance scores.

What’s the bottom line to all of this? According to the experts, Wisconsin is facing an exceedingly costly and uncertain future when it comes to maintaining the systems that keep our state healthy, safe and economically viable. Given the recent survey results, however, it appears that state residents are not yet ready to accept that there’s a real need to focus on or commit additional resources to secure our public infrastructure.       

Sereno, former business editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, is a senior manager at Wood Communications Group in Madison. E-mail jenny.sereno@wcgpr.com or call (608) 770-8084.