Wednesday, August 8, 2007

I-35W Bridge Warnings Were Dire, Ignored, Since 1996

Inspectors' reports reviewed by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune show dire warnings as early as 1996, including a tilting support pillar.

Some will call this finger-pointing.

You know what? Good. It's an object lesson for governments and inspectors and budget officers in and far from Minnesota.

To treat these matters with more of a sense of urgency.

And to redo transportation spending prioritization - - away from building new highways and adding lane capacity, to inspections, follow-through, repairs and replacement of aging facilities.

In other words: "Fix-it-First."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Rowen:

I never thought I would ever agree with you, but I do on this. We need to fix what we have before we go into new projects. Have you looked at the federal transportation budget? There are many pork projects in there that have nothing to do with transportation. $5 million for a new gym for the U.S. house of Reps. Funding for different museums. Before we go and raise taxes we need to cut spending in these Non essential areas. If we do not have enough after that then we can talk about a tax increase. I am sick of all of the politics regarding this issue.