This is true or not, but dayum…
The bridge that just collapsed in the city of Pittsburgh was set to be restored in 2016. Instead of replacing the completely rusted out supports, they diverted the money to bike lanes, green energy programs and lanes for self driving cars.
The whole twitter string, HERE, definitely points out a ‘significant’ problem if an entire support was rusted through at least 3 years ago…
Politicians don’t like to spend money on infrastructure because infrastructure is boring… until it’s not.
I live in the Pittsburgh area. The bridge that collapsed is the city of Pittsburghs responsibility and the idiot Democrat Mayor Peduto did exactly what you have said. He prioritized bike lanes over traffic safety for votes. It did not do him any good though because he lost to another Democrat and he stated he was going to leave the city after his term ended in 2021. I do not know if he left but who really cares? He was and is a schmuck. Good riddance!
Great tweet in the feed: “How many bikes can you ride over it NOW?”
From my experience, city officials are the most inefficient, corrupt, and ignorant group of politicians. That either shows cities are inhabited by mostly ignorant, apathetic people, or the system for voting is corrupt.
From what I’ve read, the bridge was inspected, deemed dangerous, and should have been closed for repairs.
And people keep voting for these dangerous idiots. It’s self destructive behavior on a grand scale.
There is an even more fundamental problem, and you see it across the entire far left: they are unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. Not really a disconnect — although there is some of that — but they just can’t separate their fantasy lives from the real world. Which won’t end well…
I might add — one of the Old Testament lessons for this week might aapply to them… Isaiah 6:1-13.
When I lived near Pittsburgh, I avoided it for many reasons. One was they have several bridges known for having pieces randomly drop off.
Oof. After the building collapse in Miami this last summer, I’ve been watching some structural engineering videos. Hopefully, they’ll take things seriously now. (Who am I kidding? They’ll slap a bandaid on it and call it good.)
Engineers recommend. Politicians decide.
Reading the replies to the thread shows just how far our education has fallen in this country. Nobody cares and they all claim that the money wasn’t diverted to BS political issues and other BS. They, as always, blame the ‘right’ or the ‘GOP’ or the ‘Republicans’ for not spending enough money. The people who diverted the money away from where it was supposed to go are angels who didn’t do anything wrong.
Shades of New Orleans, 2005. Democrat politicians at all levels had diverted or pocketed the money allocated for levee improvement for decades. Democrat politicians approved building permits for neighborhoods that were below sea level. Then they blamed Republicans when hurricane Katrina hit and the levees failed, flooding the lowlands.
Consequences can be a bitch.
Wow, damning twister thread… I liked the dismantling systemic racism in transport memo. Pan to collapsed bridge…
Hey Old NFO;
They gotta “Virtue Signal”, fixing bridges are boring and don’t earn them any “Cred” with the hippie set, but LGBTQ symbolism, Bike Paths and other leftie things are good for getting elected.
Overheard at a state Professional Engineer’s conference may years ago. Spending money on maintenance doesn’t get headlines, starting construction on a new highway, school, admin building, etc. gets your picture holding a shiny shovel on the front page of the local fish wrapper, or on the 10pm local news. Guess which activity gets funded.
All- Thanks for the comments, and yes, consequences… Ian, ESPECIALLY verse 10! Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Knuckledraggers like us think “infrastructure” means things like roads, dams, bridges, and the Grid. But what do we know?
Y’all can expect more of this government tomfoolery on roads and transportation from Beautyplug. I worked in his city for the entire time he was mayor and can attest to the fact that his “new cities” leftist projects literally ruined traffic flow in South Bend.
Used to have a major 4 lane wide one way into town from south and a 4 and 3 lane exiting to south. The road north was 2 lanes each way. Truckers and drivers had an easy drive through the city with few issues. Then this brilliant POS reverted both South side roads to two way traffic, narrowed the lanes further by adding turn lanes and bike lanes (in a part of the country with maybe 5 months without severe inclement weather), added traffic circles to make things even more difficult for circulation and trucking, Mind that in 20 years of commuting there, if I saw one person on a bicycle at all on any weekday, it was an event. Then let’s not get started on making the whole LGBTQRST thing front and center to every discussion, as well as racial issues, as a tool for divisive action. The operating philosophy seems to be make everyone suffer more and make like you are “doing something”.
Nothing against any group or ethnicity, we all worked well together before he wandered in and there is no friction (has not been any in decades), but it is a useful tool for the left.
I already detect this methodology emanating from Beautyplug on the federal level. Hold onto your wallets folks. Money for “infrastructure” never ends up there, it is union payoffs and ghost makework for votes.
Drang- Yep… sigh…
Terra- Dayum… That just sucks on a global scale, and makes absolutely NO sense. Why other than ego, screw up a known working pattern?
A communist will mess up things on purpose, when they live with their heads only in theory, because the theory predicts if others suffer a little more, the communist gets everything that they way.
There are also people that have a drive to hurt others, because of how they are wired internally.
I suspect that you are too much an engineer, to grok these vandals with your first guess.
Bob- Good point!