( CNN ) -- State and federal investigations are underway in the case of lane closures that clogged traffic on the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey in August . Politicians and pundits are tossing around accusations of wrongdoing by employees of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority and the office of New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie . The national press may feast on the political implications for New Jersey 's Republican governor , but I think the episode is symptomatic of a larger , more troubling issue . The deliberate political action resulted in life-threatening situations and delays that cost more than $ 21 million of economic losses to businesses and families . But the same situation faces millions of Americans every day because of the deterioration of our nation 's infrastructure and political gridlock . The George Washington Bridge is emblematic of thousands of other bridges nationwide -- it suffers from chronic traffic jams , has a long maintenance backlog and is showing signs of aging that you 'd expect in an 83-year-old superstructure . And while the bridge is undergoing an eight-year , billion-dollar renovation , it remains the busiest bridge in the world . It is a major connector of commercial industry and human capital in the Northeast that will require upkeep for decades to come . In other words , the George Washington Bridge 's condition is mirrored by other bridges coast to coast . American bridges are in bad shape , and there is a dire need for massive funding to shore them up or rebuild them . As we know from major bridge collapses in Minneapolis in 2007 and in Washington State in May 2013 , we 're seeing more and more that merely driving across some bridges might mean that you are putting yourself at risk . Rather than focusing only on the question of whether certain New Jersey politicians can `` survive '' the unfolding political scandal , we need to ask whether millions of Americans who cross the nation 's bridges every day are going to survive their trips . We need to question why political battles at the congressional level have gummed up the funding for improving America 's bridges . This is a slow-motion scandal with far-ranging implications . Why is political gamesmanship stopping the critical investment in our country 's future that labor , the Chamber of Commerce and the American public overwhelmingly support ? This political gridlock is about national elected officials from both sides of the aisle who -- over the span of several presidential administrations -- have failed to make the upkeep and revitalization of our bridges a top priority . The condition of U.S. bridges and our national infrastructure -- roads , sewers , manufacturing and energy facilities -- should be inseparable from the debate over how to end our economic malaise . The troubling state of our bridges , in particular , is a premium example of how political priorities have created gridlock that impact millions of Americans every day . By ending political gridlock that is in the way of funding for major infrastructure projects , jobs can be created , lives can be saved and the future of transportation and commerce will be secured . Instead , bridges continue to decay and desperately needed maintenance projects are still dangerously backlogged . Consider this : . -- The United States , including Puerto Rico , is home to more than 66,700 structurally deficient bridges and 84,748 functionally obsolete bridges , the Federal Highway Administration reports . -- Last year , the American Society of Civil Engineers rated one out of nine U.S. bridges as structurally deficient , and also found that the average age of the nation 's 607,380 bridges is 42 years . As a journeyman iron worker and representative of more than 100,000 workers -- including thousands of bridge workers -- I read about the George Washington Bridge-related political squabbling taking place now in New Jersey and interpret it differently . As I see it , the real scandal here is in the question of how a critically vital piece of America 's infrastructure -- the bridges that are our lifelines to jobs , hospitals and economic development -- have been neglected for so long . Where is the outrage over the political gamesmanship at the congressional level that has caused desperately needed work on American bridges to grind to a halt ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Walter W. Wise .
Walter Wise says the attention focused on New Jersey 's bridge scandal is misplaced . Wise : Our nation 's bridge 's are in dire need of repair . The federal government has already spent billions to fix them, and it will continue to do so for years to come.