UA News

The visit highlights the upcoming documentary "Blueprint America: Road to the Future" that examines America's aging public infrastructure.

Ray Suarez, senior correspondent for the popular PBS nightly news program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," will visit Tucson for a special presentation on May 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Crowder Hall on The University of Arizona campus.

Suarez will be presenting highlights from "Blueprint America: Road to the Future," the latest program in the PBS multi-platform initiative on America's aging infrastructure."Blueprint America" is an ongoing series of reports examining the growth and development of the American city and the importance of grappling with infrastructure challenges now. The Arizona Public Media premiere of the documentary is Wednesday at 8 p.m. on KUAT Channel 6.

"The basic stuff of life – electricity, water, food you eat, getting yourself from place to place – all of that seems to many Americans to be getting harder, less fun, more expensive and they wonder ‘how did we get here and who is going to do something about it?' 'Blueprint America' is trying to explain to people what the costs are and what the needs are," said Suarez.

"When you pump a tank full of gas, something most of us do, a part of that fee that you paid to do that is going to the upkeep of America's network of transportation. That's infrastructure. It's great stuff not because rusting bridges and potholed highways are the sexiest part of our lives, but because they do make our daily lives what they are," he said.

Suarez said thousands of bridges across the country are considered structurally substandard from years of deferred maintenance. There are "years when municipal systems have saved infrastructure money by waiting another year to do necessary repairs, waiting an extra year to do the necessary upgrades. Now, we have too many bills coming due all at once. And on the roads and bridges there's billions of dollars of work that needs to be done and not a clear picture of how we pay for all that work.

"The largest single source of funds is the federal gasoline tax. Right now, Americans are trying to figure out how to burn less gasoline, meaning their efforts at conservation are going to put less money into the federal kitty to make the necessary repairs to roads and bridges. Never mind expanding the network – just making what we have safe and secure is going to take untold billions."

Tickets for "An Evening with Ray Suarez" are $25 apiece  and can be purchased at the UA College of Fine Arts Box Office. Tickets purchased online include a $3 fee. Arizona Public Media members at the $40 level and above will have preferred seating and an opportunity for a meet-and-greet event with their ticket purchase.

More information on the "Blueprint America" series and any of the other Arizona Public Media 50th Anniversary events is online at www.AZpublicmedia.org.