Cities in North America and around the world face decaying infrastructure that is often controlled by other levels of government. The costs of repairing, upgrading and expanding a highway network are high, and beyond the typical budgets — not to mention political mandates — of most metropolitan governments.

If the mayor and council are unsuccessful in lobbying for upgrades, the situation can become serious.

Regardless of whether aging infrastructure or a construction crew mistake caused the Minneapolis incident, this same tragedy could have happened in dozens of cities because the highways were not built to last this long without upgrades nor to handle the larger vehicles of the 21st century, as detailed in this New York Times article.

Maybe this will serve as a wake up call across the USA. In Canada, a similar collapse in Montreal in Sept 2006 generated renewed attention on urban infrastructure, particularly in the province of Quebec, but also nationally.

While politicians on both sides of the border scramble to find funds to be seen as doing something, what no one is doing is proposing to give cities the funds to maintain and develop their own infrastructure. Nor is anyone suggesting that cities and metro regions need more control over the infrastructure that allows them to function.

Cities in both countries need a new deal — a new city-centred relationship with higher governments is required. Cities are now the economic engines of regional and national growth.

Having the national budget control their infrastructure is an anachronism — or the tail wagging the dog.