Let’s highlight American infrastructure ingenuity at the Olympics

OPINION:

In the late spring of 1869, in the high desert northwest of Salt Lake City, a golden spike was driven into the dusty ground at Promontory Summit, completing the first transcontinental railroad. This feat of American grit and determination radically changed our nation. Now, instead of taking weeks or months to transport people, goods or services from one end of the country to the other, it would only take a matter of days. The railroad supercharged our economy and opened markets and communities from sea to shining sea.

That moment transformed Utah from a frontier outpost to the Crossroads of the West. Just 22 years earlier, the first early pioneer settlers entered the Salt Lake Valley after cutting their own trail across the nation in handcarts and wagons. Those early settlers stood up Salt Lake City on its neat grid of streets. And with the arrival of the railroad, it was connected to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world.

As the first member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from my state in over 20 years I’ve taken our “Utah Way” to Washington and been very glad to see a return to the smart, common-sense projects and policies that deliver real improvements that people can feel every day.

This year, the Surface Transportation bill is being written as America continues to prepare for a World Cup and two Olympic Games over the next decade. This Congress has been laser-focused on ensuring that we use our taxpayer funds wisely. This bill will have an impact on our national infrastructure for decades — which is why the Committee has focused on ensuring that we have a plan that pays for these investments, and a regulatory environment in places that allows businesses and innovation to flourish.

In 2002 Utah welcomed the world to the greatest snow on earth and kicked off the Winter Olympics, something we will do again in the not-too-distant future. Utah did something incredible with the Olympics 24 years ago: it turned a profit. Almost no Games in the modern age have done that. What was the secret? The LA Times ascribed the profit to a “unique… partnership between government and a privately run organizing committee.”

That is why I’m proud to co-lead the Transportation Assistance for Olympic and World Cup Cities Act with Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.)

That “unique” partnership is something we hope to foster through our bill. It is an effort to give host cities across America a dependable federal partner while preparing to host major international sporting events like the Olympics and World Cup. Our bill would strengthen transportation planning by providing a standing $50 million in funds available to help host cities strengthen transportation planning which would boost local collaboration and ensure the United States is ready to shine on the global stage by providing predictable support, paving the way to gold.

With events that bring the world to the United States of America, the planning needed to be successful starts early. Ensuring that predictable funding source means that local partners can plan on having a dependable federal partner throughout the process and ensure tax dollars are being spent wisely helps host cities and their transit partners plan more effectively.

Advertisement Advertisement

America is the land where big ideas have always been possible; where the sky ceased to be the limit because we dreamed of reaching out into the stars. We are a nation of builders and winners recapturing the American spirit to do great things.

From freight to families and fans, this bipartisan bill helps our government work for the people by creating long-term and lasting impacts that help improve the infrastructure that we all use and benefit from every single day, removing the uncertainty and innovation-killing red tape.

America is back, America is building, and America is moving again.

• Burgess Owens represents Utah’s Fourth Congressional District. He serves as a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.