TRVA Supports Stimulus Package
Our nation’s current economic crisis has been described as being of historic proportions. Leaders from both political parties and President Elect Obama have expressed interest in a second economic stimulus package. The Tennessee River Valley Association encourages a proposal that would not distribute a rebate check, which was the function of the first package, but would provide for investments in our nation’s aging infrastructure, especially in our nation’s inland waterways transportation system.
Many of our locks and dams that provide tremendous economic benefits to our nation are near or beyond their design life, with several at risk of failure. Most have been in service for fifty years and longer providing valuable economic development opportunities to communities and regions served by our inland waterways network. Having suffered years of neglect, our aging locks and dams are requiring more frequent maintenance, with increasing maintenance periods to perform the needed repairs. Modernization of these valuable assets is essential to their continued viability as a vital component of our nation’s overall transportation system.
Transportation of freight on our nation’s inland waterways produces many benefits. It provides a cost-effective, energy efficient and environmentally sound alternative to land-based transportation modes. In addition to the distinct advantages in energy savings, barge transportation helps releive highway congestion and generates far less air and noise pollution, per ton of freight moved, than truck or rail. The movement of commerce on the nation’s waterways greatly reduces wear and tear on public highways and bridges, while reducing the number of traffic accidents and fatalities by reducing the number of vehicles on our highways and at rail crossings.
An economic stimulus package that includes investments in our nation’s inland waterways infrastructure will not only provide overdue modernization to a mode of transportation with available capacity for growth, it will also result in much needed job creation that will be essential to stimulate our nation’s economic recovery. As a result, American taxpayers will be rewarded with an asset that will continue to provide economic benefits for decades into the future.
