Quarter Billion Dollar Bridge ???

[sandnsea]

Does that price tag not cause a bit of concern out there? Do you think a country where nearly half the people earn $25,000 can afford quarter billion dollar bridges??

$250 MILLION

:shrug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. We spend $720 million a day in Iraq

[sandnsea]

2. And we can't afford it

We have thousands of bridges that need repair or replacing. We can't spend a quarter billion per bridge. Our economy is so screwed up.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. So do we just let more bridges collapse

and more people die?

[sandnsea]

19. No, look at income disparities

While it is true that just about anybody can come up with $70 to cover their share of this one bridge, as post #7 suggests, if you consider the number of bridges that need fixing or repair - it becomes clear that the average person can't afford the taxes to fix bridges - let alone anything else. Part of the reason these bridges cost so much is the money companies like Bechtel are making off of them. We're taxing low and median income folks to give millions in contracts to rich folks, and then giving them tax breaks on the income to boot. We're stupid is what I'm saying.

[stellanoir]

3. Spent $720 million a day and all we got was this ever heightened

alleged terrorist threat.

[RL3AO]

4. Just imagine what a long bridge

would cost today (Like the Golden Gate or Brooklyn bridge)

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. The Carquinez Suspension Bridge in the Bay area (.66 Miles) was $200 million

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/carquinez.htm

[RL3AO]

14. Must be nice for the state to pull in that $4 toll.

[Deja Q]

5. Given the amount of traffic and average weight being 4x the rated specs,

I wouldn't be entirely surprised.

I wish previous governors would have replaced the bridge; before 2005 (and after the 1990 showing there were problems!) there surely must have been one study done saying "You'd better replace it this time."

There's a lot of finger pointing going on and if the situation were reversed the Dem in office would get blamed as well. Never mind the tax cuts...

The infrastructure has to be sorted out. In government, corporate, or personal lives, real costs like these are NEVER fun to discuss. But they need to be; we cannot keep the proverbial eyes closed any longer. :(

[sandnsea]

6. I'm talking economic disparity

We've got some serious problems when bridges cost this amount of money and people making $10 hr or supposed to pay for them.

[shraby]

8. Can't be half as bad as people making $10 hr paying

for the missing 9 billion dollars in Iraq or the trillions missing in the DOD. At least with this amount, we'll have a bridge to use.

[sandnsea]

10. We have thousands of bridges to fix

How are we going to afford to do it? And fix our schools, pay for health care, housing, and everything else that needs to get done. I'm saying our ECONOMY is broken.

[Johonny]

7. Well

From Wiki:Known as the Twin Cities, these two cities form the core of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.5 million residents.

So for 71 $ per person in the twin cities they get a bridge. I think even that's affordable to people making $ 25,000 a year.

[sandnsea]

11. Thank you

That was helpful. Okay. I can relax now.

[The Straight Story]

12. Most the cost is for union labor

(someone was gonna say it.....)

[sandnsea]

16. I know that isn't true anymore

With privatization, unions aren't required. The costs kept going up, but the money goes to a few contractors now, instead of providing good union jobs and benefits.

[eNeko]

13. What kind of attitude is that?

"We can't afford to do it"? That's the same sort of thinking that lead to all of our infrastructure problems. It's critical that we have have a functioning transportation system - do you expect Minnesota to just go without a bridge? Minnesota already has massive traffic problems, which the failure of this bridge will only hugely exacerbate. Are we supposed to just shrug and say "Oh, well, we can't afford to replace it, tough luck!"

That's exactly the same attitude that lead our governor to veto a transportation bill that would have been dedicated funds from a 5 cent gas tax increase to improving our transportation system. People complained about not being able to afford that either, despite the fact that the price of gas fluctuates by far more than 5 cents on a weekly basis.

At some point, we just have to decide that we need to invest in our country. If we want safe roads, we have to be willing to pay for them.

And I'll tell you how we pay for it: rolling back the huge tax cuts and credits for corporations.

[sandnsea]

15. Where did I say that?

I expressed concern over the huge price and how an economy with so many low income people could continue paying for things like this.

Then responded to post #7, which makes the most sense.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

18. Would reducing the gross weight limit on trucks help increase the margin of safety and reduce stress

on existing bridges? I remember breaking down on an Interstate on an overpass bridge and whenever a big rig went by the bridge vibrated significantly.

[sandnsea]

20. I saw that referenced yesterday

A graphic that compared the trucks of 50 years ago with the 3 trailer trucks today. I think that might be a big part of the problem and would certainly be safer for all of us too.