We Are Truly Doomed
I travel Louisiana I-49 fairly frequently. Over the last several months, I've watched workers installing some reasonably complex curb sidings along the outside of the breakdown lanes on each side.
These things are trapezoids of maybe 6' by 10' by 6' wide. All of them were dug out, had a stone base compacted into the hole and have a rebar grid installed prior to the pouring of about a yard of concrete.
I figured they would be for a sign.
The project is complete and I now know what they were for.
In the center of each of these concrete slabs that could support an auto lift, is a single mile marker sign.
And to top that off, there were already existing mile marker signs that they have since removed.
I-49 is a bit over 200 miles long so that's 400 signs at probably $40 each, plus all the work to build the ludicrous bases. We're talking about a million dollar project or better to replace stuff that was in fine shape.
I'm betting it was "stimulus" money from the feds so it probably seemed like a good deal to the state, but it's still stupid.
If a state that is doing reasonably well in these economic times can't even see what's worth doing, how can we expect anyone else to?
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Mar '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Mile markers used to suffice. Now there are many freeways with markers every 1/10 of a mile. In Belgium, there are markers every 1/10 of a kilometer! ...even on highways that became mere local streets since WWII.
May '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Now that you mention it, they did double the number of marker signs on the I10 Atchafalaya basin bridge from one every 2/10's to every 1/10 mile as well.
Edited on November 24, 2011 at 2:19pmFeb '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
If this is the best use states can find for their highway money than the states clearly have too much money. How many of them are whining at the same time that they don't have the funds to fix their potholes?
In the same league are the 'sound barriers' being built in many areas. Driving a highway in many parts of NJ is like driving the bottom of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, all for the reprehensible objective of protecting the delicate sensibilities of some moron who thinks society should absolve him of the inevitable consequences of his stupidly purchasing an over priced McMansion built 150 feet from I-70. The sound barrier monstrosities in NJ are reputed to cost in the vicinity of $1,000,000 per mile. If the nitwits who bought those houses want sound barriers they should have to pay for them themselves.
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
I see such wastefulness all over the DC area. And usually each project is marked with humongous "stimulus" signs. The signs alone are a great waste of money. What makes this particularly galling is that the DC area is thriving. There are cranes and construction everywhere.
Feb '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
A useless stretch of sidewalk was just built on a country road near my mom's house in Georgia. There was already a sidewalk on the other side of the road, and there is very little foot or bike traffic in the area. Local residents were not happy about the destruction of trees that the building of the sidewalk entailed.
Objectors were told by the county officials that the way the budget worked, the line item in the federal or state grant could only be used for this purpose and would otherwise be "wasted."
I expect that a great deal of government expenditure, at all levels, is of this nature.
Feb '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
I can top this.
I'm thinking of the I-94/US-24 interchange in Taylor, Michigan.
It used to be a conventional cloverleaf with no stop lights.
Now it's a monstrosity with lengthy wait times, topped off by football shaped crossbeams on the bridge supports. It was opened just before the Superbowl held in Detroit so I suspect that's why those crossbeams are football shaped.
Not only did this work take years, but the concrete sound barriers built with it are painted. It's a nice fancy pattern, BTW.
I guess spending years completely rebuilding and redesigning an existing interchange didn't waste enough money.
They needed to paint cement.
May '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Taking Keynse's proposal that the government hire people to dig holes and fill them up again literally...
Feb '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Xennady:
Not only did this work take years, but the concrete sound barriers built with it are painted. It's a nice fancy pattern, BTW.
Just imagine the conversations that went on in the committees that came up with these ideas, reviewed the designs, and approved the winners. Our pockets are being picked to pay these people to do this.
Feb '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Also in the DC area - the main road that goes by my house was repaved, and it didn't need repaving. And yes, it had that annoying sign about "stimulus dollars at work"... stimulus dollars at waste is more like it. For all the dire pronouncements about our 'aging infrastructure' that money could have done a lot of good if it were spent where needed.
Sep '10
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
As to the cost of the signs themselves, you can safely multiply the $40 estimate by 10! Road signs are astoundingly expensive. Wonder why.
Oct '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
You don't understand, the object is not good roads but kickbacks, graft and corruption. The money must flow to divert it.
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
I was shocked by those "stimulus money at work" signs when I was last in DC. They really screamed "Welcome to America, we're a basket case."
May '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
The resolution doesn't come through, but the sign reads "Sand." You've got to love it.
Edited on November 24, 2011 at 6:54pmOct '10
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Letters to the local paper pointing out this kind of silliness are a start. To end it, voters will have to deplore it, but first they have to be aware of it. To anyone with any sense, to know about it is to hate it.
Nov '11
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Just telling someone the other day about a trip made through northern Cal in the early AM darkness where the numerous bridges were so decorated with reflective warning signs that they appeared in the distance, with the cars high beams on, to be on fire.
Jun '10
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
On Long Island, we've got electronic signs telling us how many minutes to this or that major interchange. Remember when we used to do a little math to figure that out? Now, no thinking needed. But I just can't see these signs without thinking about how much they must have cost.
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Perhaps they will next start naming pot holes after specific politicians. Seems like it would be a marginally better expenditure of signage money if we appropriately commemorated obstacles and hazards.
Jun '10
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
I must admit that I have more than once wanted to borrow my son's 12-gauge shotgun and put a few holes in some stimulus signs. Thus far I haven't given in, but each time I see one, that little devil on my shoulder tells me to do it again.
May '10
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
Here is an example of what Chimay described in the first comment:
Back in July when I was driving up to Cape Cod, on Rt 195 in Mass I noticed that there were milage markers every 1/10th of a mile. I am quite sure that this is just another example of stimulus (or even pre-stimulus) patronage....a fat state contract for someone with connections, to produce cheap product to fill a nonexistent need.
Edited on November 25, 2011 at 3:40amDec '10
Re: We Are Truly Doomed
God save us all from the damned DOT engineers.
The fools here at MoDOT have decided that they are going to transition entirely from stop light type intersections to roundabouts. Roundabouts!
They cost ~10X what a normal intersection costs to build, they make traffic congestion WORSE because nobody knows how to use them, and they are never properly marked so you can figure out which exit goes where (which then compounds the congestion as people have to go through the damned things two or three times to get it right.
Meanwhile, there are two bridges within 15 miles of my house where 10' square chunks of the decking literally fall out every single year about this time. It hasn't happened this year yet, but it's just a matter of time. First cold snap, and that big 20' sq sheet of 1" thick steel will be back out on the bridge to cover the big hole until they can cobble together another patch.
They could totally replace both bridges for what two or three of those damnable roundabouts cost, but the bridges are out here in BFE where only farmers and rednecks drive, so we're SOL.