Tuesday, November 8, 2011

What Would Be the Point In Replacing It?

I'm going to geek out on a local issue now, so please indulge me. The plans for replacing the Hudson River spanning Tappan Zee Bridge have been unveiled and, frankly, they stink. The proposed design of the bridge lacks any mass transit component- the current four traffic lanes (during rush hour, there's a movable divider) will be replaced by... four traffic lanes, thus ensuring that the current congestion problems are not solved. Some of the comments on the CBS web page are great, including the observation "They are replacing a 1950′s bridge with a 1950′s bridge." County Executive Rob Astorino's comment was "We can’t build an eight-track bridge in an iPod world." When one replaces a badly-needed piece of infrastructure, it's foolish to hamstring the construction to save money. Why the hell would anyone cripple this project right out of the starting gate?

Personally, I would like to see a light rail line along the entire I-287 corridor, connecting stations in Rockland County to the Tarrytown, White Plains, and Port Chester train stations, linking the three major rail lines and creating a real regional mass transit network. Of course, I would also put in bicycle/walking paths, as Town of Greenburgh supervisor Paul Feiner has suggested (Mr. Feiner is one of my favorite politicians- he has good green credentials and is a tireless promoter of bicycling). Actually, Mr Feiner has introduced a plan to convert the existing Tappan Zee Bridge into a walking/cycling path, which would be awesome (I've ridden my bike across the Tap' during several MS bike-a-thons).

The very idea of nickel-and-diming infrastructure projects until they are "built broken" is asinine. The whole disposable culture has got to end. Remember when things were built to last, and one paid a fairly high price for durable goods? Now, we buy cheap crap that we have to continually replace, which is wasteful and stupid. It's wasteful and stupid when such items as shoes, clothing, and small appliances are concerned, it's tragic and suicidal when major infrastructure is concerned.

13 comments:

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

sing it.

Also, infrastructure construction spending, on higher quality and well-designed structures result in good jobs.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

The very idea of nickel-and-diming infrastructure projects until they are "built broken" is asinine.

ESPECIALLY WHEN WE NEED TO PUT PEOPLE TO WORK!!!

P.S. OK, I see the zombie just said that. I'll go back to my indoor voice.
~

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Nah, you can both preach it OUT LOUD!!

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Thudner and I are completely on the same page on these things.

Also, the Ramones.

Jennifer said...

You had me at:

The very idea of nickel-and-diming infrastructure projects until they are "built broken" is asinine.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Also, do I recall correctly that at some point back when we still pretended to care about infrastructure...

The High-Speed Amtrak was built with a lower-performance 'tilting train', rather than something better which would have required more investment in the tracks?

(AKA just another penny-wise, pound-foolish decision that bit us in the ass, and IS THE DIRECT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE DO WHEN WE'RE SPENDING MONEY ON THINGS TO KILL PEOPLE WITH???)

There I go again.
~

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

(AKA just another penny-wise, pound-foolish decision that bit us in the ass, and IS THE DIRECT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE DO WHEN WE'RE SPENDING MONEY ON THINGS TO KILL PEOPLE WITH???)

Nah, they're even skimping on that.

Hamish Mack said...

Hah hah silly liberals. If this bridge falls down because it's make of spaghetti, won't there be more spending on a new, new one? And there won't be public transport on it because that would be dirty and smelly.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

While Peter Park and John Norquist were directing Milwaukee's development during the 90s, they made design of infrastructure a priority.

So we've had some nicely designed bridges of late. Yeah, they have cost a bit more; but you tell me whether this is worth it:

pedestrian bridge.
"marsupial" pedestrian bridge.

sixth street bridge

Humboldt bridge.

fish said...

definitely related to zombie's comment

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

If this bridge falls down because it's make of spaghetti, won't there be more spending on a new, new one?

I dunno, but a bridge made out of spaghetti would be delicious...

"marsupial" pedestrian bridge.

A bridge for 'possums?

possibly related

That dog can SWING!

Word Verification (I kid you not)- urine

For realz!

M. Bouffant said...

Penny-wise & pound-foolish.

Do we never learn nothin'?

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Do we never learn nothin'?

the people that learn stuff keep DYIN, MB.