Civil engineers group gives U.S. roads D+

Civil engineers group gives U.S. roads D+

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has given U.S. roads a D+ and bridges a C+ in its latest Infrastructure Report Card, a report it issues every four years.

The report says that Americans are wasting 43 hours a year one full workweek sitting in traffic because of the nationês poor infrastructure. Put another way, each family is losing $3,400 a year of disposable income spending it on car repairs and wasted time and gas because of poor infrastructure.

Estimating that it would cost $4.6 trillion to rebuild and renovate U.S. infrastructure by 2025, the ASCE recommends increasing the gas tax by 25 cents a gallon. That is more than double the current rate of 18.4 cents. The tax has not been raised in 24 years, but an increase is not likely in this Congress. President Trump talked during the campaign about spending $1 trillion on infrastructure, but further discussion has been placed on the back burner as he deals with more pressing issues such as health care.