Can infrastructure save the economy? And make it pretty too?

The New York Times article on the history of the Merritt Parkway was pretty timely in light of the economic stimulus. About $40 billion is going toward highway and infrastructure construction. Will the money include the kind of development that went into the Merritt back in the 1930s?

The highway was laid out to have a parklike feel, lined with dogwoods and other trees and crossed over with magnificently carved and ornamented bridges. Nowadays the parkway is congested and traffic crawls. When I lived in Connecticut we often spoke of the Route 7-Merritt Parkway main commuting highways with appropriate horror. I gather it has only gotten worse since then. But as the article says, when commuters are forced to drive in stop-and-go traffic they can appreciate the art and the architecture that graces the highway to this day.

I think that the idea of creating beauty out of infrastructure has, well, merit. Texas has been building plenty of roads and overpasses lately — toll roads have sprung up around Austin, causing a huge outcry — and there are a couple of interchanges that are quite handsome. The 183–IH-35 interchange, for instance, has beautiful brick columns and plazas.  Odd I know, because the only people who will appreciate these touches are the flower sellers and the guys asking for change, but it’s a welcome relief for motorists too, who are used to staring at nothing but gray concrete and dead grass on the embankments while waiting for the light to change.

So will it be considered a waste of money if we use some of the stimulus funds for pretty? I hope not. Highways and roads are pretty utilitarian. Maybe putting in a little art will make them human too.