On the other hand, when I drove part of it last year, I was appalled at how poorly the in-tunnel sign system worked. Driving behind and between trucks, I could glimpse only one
lane of overhead illuminated sign at a time, and only briefly. But the legend on the sign extended its full width, so that I could see only a narrow part of it.

Dumb. Just plain dumb. But probably exactly in line with DoT standards.

Geministorm on October 1, 2008 at 8:36 AM

Years ago I worked in purchasing. One of my best vendors told me repeatedly, I can give you the best quality, best price, or best service.

Pick two.

Some things don’t change.

Somebody tells me why it takes in some places two years to simply resurface five miles of rural country road?

Unfortunately, government at every level, city, state and Federal, gets in the way, jacking up costs, increasing the time line and lowering the quality. No wonder all the locals were laughing about the time line because they were so use to their city’s red tape, obstructionist approach they’d witnessed in the past.

So surprise, surprise that an unencumbered private entity could come in and prove them all dead wrong and in spades.

This recent episode of private enterprise making a laughingstock out of state and Federal agencies reminds me of my first encounter with how private enterprise, in this case one individual, saying “get out of my way, I can do it faster and cheaper”.

The year was 1986. The place, Central Park, NYC. Under Mayor Ed Koch (and others), the pathetically run city had been trying 12 years and with a budget of $12 million to simply rebuild the beloved Wollman Ice Rink. 12 years, $12 million and still no rink. Along comes none other than Donald Trump who wrote Koch in May of ’86 saying, in effect, “Look, I want this rink finished before my kid grows up, so let me do it. I’ll do it for free, i.e. at no profit to me, I will get it done in 6 months instead of 12 years and I’ll do it for $3 million, a 75% reduction in cost”.

Now, I’m no fan of Trump. Wasn’t then, still not today, but that guy was better than his word. Like the new St. Anthony’s bridge, Trump beat both the time line and cost. The new Wollman Rink opened, to great public euphoria and with egg all over the NYC government in just 3 months instead of the 6 month self imposed timeline and at a mere $2.3 million, 25% below even his own projection.

See what can be accomplished when government get’s the hell out of the way? And these loons want Universal healthcare? Run for the hills!!

Private sector, baby, Private sector!

Here in Vegas, they have been instituting a flash flood control plan. Between my home and my daughter’s school, they have been burying water drainage pipes and gutters for nearly two years. It’s two miles of road. No penalties for the contractors.

The regional justice center downtown was nearly 5 years over deadline and millions over budget. No penalties for the contractors.

Imagine, they built Hoover Dam under budget and in less time than expected. What has happened?

“The I-40 Bridge Disaster was a boating accident that occurred in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma on May 26, 2002. Traffic resumed Monday, July 29, 2002, only two months after the disaster. The reopening set a new national record for such a project, which would usually take six months” (sadly, from wiki)

You’re right Ed

This is the innovation and spirit that is needed to replace the World Trade Center towers. What a tremendous waste of time and effort that is.

sannhet on October 1, 2008 at 9:17 AM

The problem with the World Trade Center rebuild is the buildings themselves don’t have enough of a constituency of voters to cut through all the red tape and political infighting to get them done quickly. Compare that to the two collapsed subway lines beneath the towers, one of which was the main uptown connector for Staten Island residents and the other the main connection into Lower Manhattan for New Jersey residents.

You had a lot of affected voters here, and as a result, one line was rebuilt in 10 months (in part by eliminating the station at Ground Zero) and the other was up and running again with a new temporary station in under 18 months. The same was true in Northridge and now in Minneapolis — A public works project whose slow progress can get one or more top elected officials thrown out of office will not be a slow public works project.

If the “we are better for America” Democrats would have been in charge, people would have had a job for at least another year. So what if the traffic would have been horrendous, at least government would be paying for it.

Instead, because they did a job so quickly, the company made a bonus,(the horror!) and Minnesotans are driving across a beautiful bridge MONTHS early.

Remind me…… What will the Democrats do for us again?

Contrast what happened in Boston with the infamous “Big Dig” versus Minneapolis with our new bridge. I’m not certain why the “Big Dig” became a project rife with billions in overruns, and our bridge project achieved engineering accolades in a……

However, if we really want to bolster American infrastructure over the next generation, we need states to learn the primary lesson of this project: private enterprise works best, and delivers quickly.

Ed

Read: unencumbered by the rules of political correctness and affirmative action set-asides (i.e., social engineering). To which I can only say – Duh.

- The Cat