When traveling by car between states it becomes clear almost immediately which of those states invest heavily in their roads and which spend the tax dollars in some other way. When one goes “bumpity bang” down a state highway or even an interstate and then crosses the state line to another state where the roads are smooth, well paved and well marked, the effect of politics becomes physically evident.

Last month this column singled out New York as a progressive state regarding electric power. But New York also rates high on the Iconoclast's quality meter for roads and highways, as I have passed along hundreds of miles of toll roads (the New York State Thruway, the Grand Island bridges); non-toll interstates; and plain, old-fashioned local highways full of tiny villages and towns reminiscent of Currier & Ives.

The NYST (I-90) along with the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois turnpikes were grandfathered into the 1950s Eisenhower Interstate System. Like most interstates built under that program, though, these roads are now more than 60 years old and are in constant need of maintenance, widening with added lanes, and in many cases replacement. Some tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-70) date to the Pennsylvania Central Railroad built in the mid-1800s. They're still in use. Every interstate and highway has hundreds of bridges—and these are the most vulnerable risk.