According to the Urban Land Institute's 2009 infrastructure report, done in conjunction with Ernst & Young, and which Miller authored, new networks and necessary repairs will cost trillions of dollars to complete over the next two decades. The report proposes establishing an American Infrastructure Bank to help finance national networks, attract more private capital and advance public/private partnerships.

In addition, funding burdens must shift from taxpayers to users since depleted government coffers will not sustain initiatives. For investors, infrastructure assets offer comparatively high yields at low risk, says Stephen F. Evans, managing director, private equity group, USAA Real Estate Co. These assets also offer portfolio diversification from a low-correlated asset class, a hedge against inflation, predictable demand, low volatility, long revenue duration and stable and secure cash flows. Historically, however, residents haven't taken kindly to private investors controlling their infrastructure.

And Miller thinks there's an even bigger issue at play here. Namely that we need to overhaul the way we approach the problem. "The federal government needs to come at it from a national perspective." For instance, he says, "How do nationwide road systems tie into national airports and rail lines? There should be some guidelines for state and local governments to create systems that feed into these, but ad hoc projects don't tie into any overarching plan."

Still, Miller isn't exactly optimistic that a national program will be adopted in the near future. The problem for our government today, he notes, is that we have a significant deficit. "There are so many things that need to be addressed." There are other detractors to Miller's solution as well. Most argue that creating a national infrastructure plan will be very costly, which means offsetting these costs in the form of gas taxes, tolls or congestion pricing.