Pennsylvania gets a C- on latest infrastructure report card

• Scott LaMar
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

Vehicles that were on a bridge when it collapsed Friday are seen in the rubble during the recovery process on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022 in Pittsburgh's East End. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Airdate: January 25, 2023

One of the most important issues or challenges facing the U.S. and Pennsylvania is updating, modernizing and improving our infrastructure. And it’s not just roads and bridges – even though that a big part of it – but energy, ports, drinking water, stormwater and wastewater.

The American Society of Civil Engineers releases a report card every four years that provides a status of infrastructure. The 2022 Report Card for Pennsylvania’s Infrastructure grades the state as a C-. If you go by a traditional report card, that would put the state on the lower end of average.

Pennsylvania doing well in aviation and hazardous waste with a B-. But other areas need improvement such as wastewater and bridges that got Ds.

On The Spark Wednesday was engineer David DiGioia, co-chair of the infrastructure report card for Pennsylvania.

DiGioia indicated that Pennsylvania has received more funding for infrastructure but more is needed in most areas. He added that a new source of funding, other than taxes on gasoline, will be needed for road projects,”Eliminating the gas tax isn’t going to happen overnight. I think we all realize that it is an important source of funding for infrastructure and transportation. It keeps getting dwindled away with other things, electric vehicles and so forth. I think we’re going to start to see small steps in that direction. We’re going to see where mileage based user fees can be implemented. There’s many, many programs going on.”

Wastewater got as D- on the report card meaning millions of gallons of raw sewage is going into Pennsylvania waterways. DiGioia said wastewater will get more attention,”Anything we don’t see or a lot we tend to not bring to the surface. I think wastewater and drinking water and utilities and some of those underground type facilities, they’re the ones we got to pay more attention to. And I think that’s what we’re trying to bring to light here. I do agree the investment in wastewater is occurring and new structures are being built. I think we’ll see that change over the next four years. I think we’re starting to see that investment be put in place that in the next four years, we’ll see those grades go up.”