The next time you’re sitting in one of those maddening traffic jams that seem increasingly frequent on I-10 of late, Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel says you can take solace in the fact that business and political leaders are starting to talk seriously about addressing the area’s infrastructure woes—again.
“But before you get too optimistic that a solution is in the offing consider that it will be several years at best—seriously, several years—before there is any meaningful relief to the chronic interstate congestion that ties the metro area up in knots on a daily basis,” Riegel writes in her latest column. “And if you’re waiting for something major like a new span across the river, you’ll likely be waiting more than a decade if not longer.”
The ugly truth about the traffic problem in the Capital Region, Riegel says, is that however much lip service the issue gets—particularly during an election season—it isn’t going away any time soon, if ever.
“The gridlock is real, and that has staggering implications for economic development, the ability of industry to attract and retain qualified workers, and the overall quality of life in the area,” Riegel writes. “Which is where the Capital Region Industry for Sustainable Infrastructure Solutions comes in. The group, which is aptly abbreviated with the acronym CRISIS, was created earlier this year by business leaders, who recognized the need to come together and come up with a plan.”
Over the past few months, CRISIS has focused on the governor’s race and on trying to engage the candidates in discussions that include meaningful solutions. CRISIS has also been working behind the scenes with the Capital Region Planning Commission on a wishlist of projects and a strategy to make some of them happen, Riegel says.
“The list is ambitious and includes a total of 19 long-term, megaprojects with price tags of $20 million or more each. They’re all congestion-relief initiatives, some of which would cost in the billions, not millions, of dollars, and they’re specifically targeted to easing gridlock along the interstates and the bridge,” she writes. “No one at CRISIS is under the impression accomplishing any one of these projects will be simple or swift, much less accomplishing several of them. The important thing is to come up with a plan that will evaluate them all, rank them and enable regional leaders to get behind a prioritized list of those that would most help the area.”
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