"Let's cooperate for better, more effective infrastructure"

Sheila Bair’s visionary ideas on infrastructure, published in Fortune, continue to reverberate. 

Writing for the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Neil Grigg, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University, takes note of Bair's idea and adds his own suggestions on moving forward on infrastructure. 

He starts with an assessment of the situation in his home state:

Here in Colorado, there is a lot to celebrate. In Fort Collins, our Master Transportation Plan outlines a multi-modal approach for vehicles, bikes, pedestrians and mass transit. Statewide, CDOT works with the regional planning organizations to create shared plans. A lot is happening to improve roads and bridges across the state.

Will our present trajectory get us where we need to go? Which investments would be strategic for Colorado? High-speed rail? A solution to the I-70 corridor? More mass transit? China confronts issues like these at the national level and acts quicker than we do. Our system demands participation, intergovernmental cooperation, good staff work, public-private involvement and a lot of patience.

Grigg's points on cooperation and participation are well taken.  Indeed, they echo the arguments made by MIT historian Thomas Hughes, in his 2002 book, Rescuing Prometheus.  Hughes cited four megaprojects  in the 20th century US, including the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel project, aka, The Big Dig.   That project, in particular, Hughes wrote, depended on public buy-in.  There's simply no other way to get anything done in this hyper-pluralistic environment.  

Returning to the present day in Colorado, Grigg continues: 

Looking ahead, we must take matters in our own hands with cooperative but visionary statewide plans. It is not about “keep on doing what you are doing.” It is about a future where infrastructure fuels the economy and job creation. Why not an infrastructure grade based on mobility, support for the economy and jobs, enhanced quality of life and environmental protection? Grades could also be assigned for intergovernmental and public-private cooperation.

We need to keep the conversation going and find strategies to move the state ahead. Let’s prove that our system works. It will require action under the dome but also in courthouses, city halls, school rooms and chambers of commerce around the state.