As Long As We’ve Got Our Priorities Straight
By Mitch Berg
Joe Doakes from Como Park writes:
Bridges deficient. Millions needed for repairs. No money in budget because . . .
. . . the money was diverted to light rail.
Priorities, people. Focus on priorities.
Speaking of which, I wonder if they ever got that little problem with the Washington Avenue Bridge – as in, “is it and its old-fashioned truss construction, not too different from the old 35W Bridge, strong enough to handle trains zipping over it” – resolved?
October 20th, 2011 at 7:51 am
Well if it falls into the river the obvious answer will be “we didn’t spend enough money on it”.
October 20th, 2011 at 9:18 am
I have ridden my bike under the bridge quite a few times this summer. they have added 2 more support pylons to each of the pilings. At the top they have added a beam to tie existing 3 columns to the 2 new columns. It also appears that the 2 new columns are now supporting new trusses that run the length of the bridge.
Whether all this reverse engineering and shoring up was better and more cost effective than tear down and re-build, we will probably never know.
October 20th, 2011 at 10:33 am
I think the way the logic works is:
When the government doesn’t get enough money from taxes, we pay the price in human lives.
If, however, government misappropriates those tax dollars, it doesn’t cost human lives, it creates jobs.