The massive damage done to coastal communities by Hurricane Katrina provides a unique opportunity to build a highway system that will provide for quicker evacuation during emergencies, but also quicker transporting of goods from our ports on the Gulf of Mexico.
To build quicker routes from the ports to I-10, at least, and even all the way to Jackson, the state should do as other states have done and combine state-financed construction with private investment by companies who build certain roads, maintain them, collect tolls to pay for them, and then transfer ownership to the state after a period of time.
While some will see it as a tax on those who suffered the most from the hurricane, the roads I'm talking about are ones that will not otherwise be built by the government, or, if there are plans to build, they are too far in the future.Even with the money Congress appropriated, the state won't have enough money to build all that's needed in the short amount of time we have before these communities are rebuilt to a point where it would be too costly to clear the way for highways.
To learn more, go to rebuildingmississippi.org.