Vermont infrastructure receives a C

MONTPELIER – It would require hundreds of millions of dollars to address all the deficiencies in the state's roads, bridges, dams, wastewater and drinking water systems that earned the state a C grade from the Vermont Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In its second evaluation of the state's infrastructure, the Vermont civil engineers group noted improvements in the condition of roads and bridges as a result of massive investments following the destruction wreaked by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Still, the group gave bridges a C and roads a C- grade.

The grades for dams and drinking water systems — C and C- — remained unchanged from the group's 2011 evaluation, while the grade for wastewater went down from a D+ to a D.

"We are in a better position today than we were three years ago," said Amanda Hanaway-Corrente, research program director at the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center and head of the report card committee. "Now it is crucial to keep the momentum going."

Keeping up with maintenance and replacement of aging infrastructure saves money and benefits the economy, Hanaway-Corrente said. Infrastructure is a good investment, because many of the systems last 50 to 100 years.

The six-member committee that graded the state's infrastructure based on existing conditions, capacity, operations and maintenance, public safety, risk and current and projected levels of funding. The group made recommendations for how to improve the rating in each category.

State officials welcomed the report card as a way to call attention to the deficiencies in critical infrastructure on which the public depends.

David Mears, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, promised he would share the report with members of the Legislature as he makes the case for funding and programs to address the challenges associated with aging dams, drinking-water systems, waste treatment plants and stormwater sewers.

"It is a fantastic report card, and it is a terrible report card," Mears told the small crowd of engineers who came to Montpelier for the presentation. "It accurately describes the state of affairs and is something we have to respond to," he said, noting that the areas that remain static or declined all "landed at my feet."

"I have never been satisfied with a C grade, and I'm not satisfied now," Sue Minter, deputy secretary of transportation, told the group. She disputed good-naturedly the grades the engineers gave for the roads and bridges. "We deserve better."

Minter noted that the civil engineers group included functionally obsolete bridges with those that are structurally deficient. Vermont has its own standards for bridge construction that acknowledge the public's preference for retaining the design and footprint of many of its historic structures.

She argued the state cut in half the number of bridges that are rated as structurally deficient since 2009.

The engineers raised the state's overall grade in large part because the Legislature created an infrastructure bond fund and increased the tax on gasoline — demonstrating a commitment to address the maintenance backlog that had developed because of years of underfunding transportation maintenance and reconstruction. The report also acknowledged the state's commitment to build more resilient roads and bridges following the destruction from Tropical Storm Irene.

The report card also cited the increased investment the state has made in road and bridge rehabilitation in recent years. The current budget makes the largest investment in transportation infrastructure in the state's history — with $140.3 million earmarked for bridges, $115 million for paving, $108 million for town highways, $50 million for road maintenance and $13.3 million for highways safety.

Minter noted that as cars became more efficient, and people reduced their miles of travel in response to the sluggish economy, revenues from the gasoline tax have declined. This decline threatens the state's ability to continue to make gains on the maintenance backlog.

Uncertainty about future federal funding also poses a challenge, Minter said, but added that "this report card is very important to that national conversation."

Mears said the state should have no expectation a federal windfall will arrive to help make needed investments in waste treatment and drinking water systems.

The remedy is setting rates that include money for future expensive upgrades. "You have to plan ahead," Mears said, adding, "our communities aren't doing that."

To protect the state's rivers, lakes and wetlands, the engineers said the state should be investing an additional $156 million a year to make repairs and upgrades to wastewater treatment and stormwater sewer systems.

The state is falling short by $10 million and $40 million a year in investments to protect drinking water.

The engineers introduced a new category in this second report card — solid waste diversion — gave the state a C+. Three times more waste is diverted from landfills through recycling today than in 1987, but the diversion rate has been stuck at 30-35 percent for the past two decades.

The report also looked at the status of 1,219 dams. Based on inspections completed in 2013, 35 percent were in poor condition. Most dams are privately owned.

The engineers recommended the Legislature reconsider a bill that died earlier this year that would set up a registration procedure and fee for dams to help improve dam safety.

Kim Greenwood, water program director at the Vermont Natural Resources Council, attended the presentation and welcomed the recommendation.

"There are about 1,200 dams across Vermont most of which are not generating electricity, or serving any other useful purpose," she said. "If they blow out, they can be dangerous to people, private property, and destroy culverts, roads and bridges."

Rep. David Deen, D-Westminster, heads the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee that passed the dam registration bill in the last session. "It will be back," he promised.

Contact Nancy Remsen at 578-5685 or nremsen@freepressmedia.com. Follow Nancy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nancybfp.