Rolling Down the Highway on Artificial Turf in Minnesota

Courtesy of the Star-Telegram
Written by Gordon Dickson
March 21, 2005

Fake turf is so useful that there's even a place for it on highways in Minnesota.

After three years of testing, Minnesota officials recently won approval from the Federal Highway Administration to drag giant patches of AstroTurf® across their state's highways.

The unusual procedure creates a grooved road surface, which helps with water drainage and quiets tire noise in nearby neighborhoods.

It's further proof that artificial turf is one of the world's most versatile products -- great for pickup beds, porches, you name it.

Great Am'rican road

Americans are buying fuel-efficient vehicles as a patriotic gesture, according to a survey released last week by the Massachusetts-based Civil Society Institute. No word yet on whether the national survey included interviews with anyone living in the Permian Basin, where one's love of country is more often expressed with a gun rack.

Tap the brakes a little

In a statement issued last week, the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL -CIO declared President Bush's six-year transportation bill "one of the worst transportation budgets by any president."

The group represents unions in aviation, rail, transit, trucking and other transportation fields and is concerned that funding cuts could force Amtrak to shut down.

Republicans and Democrats still disagree about many things, including Amtrak. The vigorous debate over such issues is one reason the bill is three years overdue.

But the bill does provide a record $284 billion over six years for transportation projects -- 30 percent more than the last highway bill in 1998.

Final thought

Included in the transportation bill is about $12 billion in congressional earmarks. Those are pet projects placed in the bill as special favors to members of Congress, usually for specific highway or beautification projects in their districts.

This time, a record 4,100 pet projects made the list.

Citizens watchdog groups in Washington are speaking out against the earmarks, saying they reduce the nation's transportation vision to little more than pork-barrel politics.