When traveling by car between states it becomes clearalmost immediately which of those states invest heavily in theirroads and which spend the tax dollars in some other way. When onegoes “bumpity bang” down a state highway or even an interstate andthen crosses the state line to another state where the roads aresmooth, well paved and well marked, the effect of politics becomesphysically evident.

Last month this column singled out New York as a progressivestate regarding electric power. But New York also rates high on theIconoclast's quality meter for roads and highways, as I have passedalong hundreds of miles of toll roads (the New York State Thruway,the Grand Island bridges); non-toll interstates; and plain,old-fashioned local highways full of tiny villages and townsreminiscent of Currier & Ives.

The NYST (I-90) along with the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio,Indiana and Illinois turnpikes were grandfathered into the 1950sEisenhower Interstate System. Like most interstates built underthat program, though, these roads are now more than 60 years oldand are in constant need of maintenance, widening with added lanes,and in many cases replacement. Some tunnels on the PennsylvaniaTurnpike (I-70) date to the Pennsylvania Central Railroad built inthe mid-1800s. They're still in use. Every interstate and highwayhas hundreds of bridges—and these are the most vulnerable risk.