The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "road maintenance" ...
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A Slippery Slope
The series examines a Boston sidewalk that has led to accessibility issues for people with disabilities.
Tags: construction; road maintenance; wheel chair; handicap; public property
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The Highwaymen
This investigation explores a recent trend: auctioning the maintenance of public highways and bridges to private companies. The article shows how privatization benefits the companies far more than the public. Private road operators charge high tolls and insist on non-compete clauses, so the government can't build other roads in the area.
Tags: transportation; privatization; bridges; roads; constructions; infastructure; driving; transit; state government
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Pounding the Pavement
An investigation into why trucks, overloaded or just too heavy, are being allowed to tear up the state of North Carolina's roads and bridges driving up maintenance costs.
Tags: trucks; state transportation; road maintenance; State Highway Patrol; NC Department of Transportation; state weighing stations; public safety
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Priorities Rule the Roads
Missouri ranks second to the last in the condition of its major roads while Kansas ranks seventh nationally. "Several experts say the reason for the difference is simple: money per mile. The less a state spends per mile, the longer roads go without repair, the more they deteriorate and the harder they are to fix. Missouri's 1999 road budget provided just $12,399 in capital investments per lane mile that year, compared with $29,227 in Kansas. The national average was $23,967. The legislature has at least five pending bills and Gov. Holden has sought as much as $650 million for new funding. However, transportation experts says for every $1 the state pays to keep a good mile of road, it takes $10 to restore a mile of bad road." Missouri now must struggle to pay for the new technologies in road repair that they had so long put off.
Tags: Missouri Department of Transportation; road maintenance; American Association of State Highway and Transportation; Kansas Department of Transportation; road improvements
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City Roads
A KITV-TV investigation of road maintenance cutbacks by the city of Honolulu reveals that the "money and manpower were diverted to favored projects by the mayor."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Honolulu; road; maintenance; city government; mayor; projects; money; tax dollars
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Roads To Nowhere: Squandering Highway Money in West Virginia
The series investigated "questionable and wasteful expenditures by the state Division of Highways." The reporter found out that "Since 1997, Gov. Cecil Underwood and the Legislature have approved the sale of $ 440 million in state road bonds. This year [2001] they hope to sell another $ 110 million. These bond sales will create a long term debt of more than $ 1 billion....The bond sales brought few additional federal matching funds to West Virginia...Much of the state road bond cash, moreover, was spent for routine resurfacing and maintenance, which has a short life span. Voters will still be paying off road bonds for years after these improvements are worn out." In some of the stories the reporter exposed "the failure of weak state laws to control overweight coal and lumber trucks that pose major threat to public safety."
Tags: diskette; FOIA; Virginia state Division on Highways; state issued bonds; wasteful expenditures; road construction; overweigth trucks; public safety; taxpayers; election
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Doubting Townships
The News-Sun investigated Illinois townships. Established in 1847, townships were "charged with three primary functions: assessment of property, maintenance of roads in unincorporated areas and provision of assistance to the poor." Critics claim modern-day townships are unnecessary while proponents says they maintain a government closest to the people.
Tags: Illinois; townships; roads; property; government
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D.O.T.: The Troubled Road
WTSP-TV (Tampa) investigation of state Department of Transportation finds a head of maintenance purchased supplies from a company he owned; also finds poor management and inefficient vehicle repair system costs the state thousands of dollars, 1984.
Tags: FL Tape