Why America’s Infrastructure Is So Hard To Fix

A robust investment in public infrastructure has too often been an American unicorn—desirable yet elusive. Even our vaunted highway system wallowed as an aspirational blueprint for a dozen years before President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.

The phrase “infrastructure week” became a running joke during the last administration as promises failed to result in legislation, year after year. When it comes to repairing our roads and bridges, upgrading our power and communications grids...