Pay attention to infrastructure

Re “ ‘Cars started flying,’ ”

Aug. 2

Today, the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis lies in the Mississippi River. Is anyone paying attention?

People in state and local governments know all too well the challenge of keeping up with infrastructure maintenance -- there is not enough money in the budget to do everything that needs to be done.

Bridge collapses injure and kill people and cause millions of dollars in damage. On top of that, the economic impact of the Minnesota collapse will be far-reaching and long-term.

Our infrastructure is no longer young, and we need to make the investments to prevent these failures. We can pay a little now or a lot more later. It’s our choice, and we had better decide soon.

Richard G. Little

Los Angeles

The writer is director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at USC.

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No indication of terrorism in the collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis? I don’t buy it. It’s the direct result of the terrorist-in-chief in the White House bankrupting the country with war, ignoring urgent needs such as infrastructure repairs.

Think this bridge collapse is bad? There’s much more to come in cities all over the country.

Al Qaeda will never destroy us. President Bush and the rest of the traitorous Republicans, the wimpy Democrats and, worst of all, the comatose American public who care more about “American Idol” than the American republic are doing it for them.

Tama Winograd

Burbank

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I bet the bridges over the Tigris and Euphrates are in real good shape.

Susan Harrigan

San Diego