At long last, Congress has authorized the construction of three badly needed new locks and dams along the upper Ohio River valley. But actually appropriating the money for the projects — at Emsworth, Dashields and Montgomery — still must come. Here’s to that happening posthaste.
The river infrastructure upgrades will cost about $2.7 billion. But half of that price tag will be footed by diesel fuel taxes paid by barge companies. While everyone should welcome these projects, we all should lament how long it has taken to cut through the red tape.
And we should recognize that there are plenty of other locks and dams issues. To wit, this week river traffic was halted just south of Wellsville, Ohio, when a hydraulic system failure closed the New Cumberland locks and dam. An auxiliary lock that could have taken up some of the slack has been down for years, deemed unsafe, the Post-Gazette reported.
While the Port of Pittsburgh no longer is the nation’s top inland port in the nation, it remains — as the now-fourth busiest (based on 2014 data) — a vital link in not only the region’s economy but that of the entire country. Here’s to more authorizations for badly needed upgrades, and more expeditious ones at that.
Let it be stipulated: Greater Pittsburgh is a wonderful place to live. (Full disclosure: I am a native Ohioan who relocated to Pittsburgh in 1986 to become Pennsylvania broadcast editor for United Press International.) But that doesn’t mean it is without its challenges.
And one of those challenges is a tendency in some quarters to gloss over the fundamental issues that can make or break any city. Cheerleading for your region is one thing. But when that cheerleading becomes excessive rah-rah-sis-boom-bahing, perhaps we lose sight of the foundational issues.
Take, for instance, the half-page ad that ran in Wednesday’s Post-Gazette. It was from the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.
“Cheers to Pittsburgh,” goes the headline, followed by this copy:
“ … where smart money and people are investing, natives and newcomers are connecting to opportunity, and the future — of this region and the world — is being invented. The Allegheny Conference on Community Development is working to improve southwestern Pennsylvania’s economy and quality of life. Through partnership we’re making progress and toasting to a bright new year in our region.”
The ad includes a clever photo of two hands — one of a woman’s and the other of a robot’s — offering a champagne toast.
But for all the great things happening in Pittsburgh, it is beset with myriad and serious problems. Pittsburgh Public Schools are a mess. Little progress has been made to fix Pittsburgh’s long-running public pension woes. Decades of one-party rule means many viable public policy solutions never are implemented, let alone be discussed. Most development smacks of central planning.
“Cheers to Pittsburgh”?
Yes, let’s promote Pittsburgh. But let’s also have an honest discussion and a more robust and open debate.
From around the public policy horn:
There’s a projected $600 million hole in the the Pennsylvania budget by the end of this fiscal year next June. Some fear that gap could swell to $1 billion. Majority Republicans are talking about it as a great opportunity to make over government. Bully for them! And, amazingly, even Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf is talking about cutting spending. A new day? We’ll believe it when we see it. For talk is cheap. But if all parties are serious, it could be a watershed moment in Penn’s Wood.
The “bike laning” of Pittsburgh continues. And it continues to raise hackles. The latest downtown street is to get the treatment will be Fort Pitt Boulevard. But that means severe restrictions on deliveries and parking. And that, as one property owner put it, could affect the marketability of his building. That’s hardly good public policy.
Colin McNickle is a senior fellow and media specialist at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
