Bridge closed — no ifs, ands or dogs; plus, stripes and LRT costs
Posted on June 1st, 2008 – 11:40 PMBy Roadguy
Here’s my column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments below. Thanks.
IT’S NOT YOU; IT’S THE BRIDGE
Alert reader Bonnie called the other day because she’d like to take a walk across the Lowry Avenue Bridge.
The Minneapolis bridge has been closed since April because it’s falling apart, but Bonnie says that she and her dog don’t weigh that much and would be unlikely to bring it down. Couldn’t the sidewalk at least be open?
The problem isn’t the weight of loads on the bridge, says Jake Bronder, a Hennepin County engineer; it’s that the bridge is unstable even when there’s nothing on it. If it decides to shift or give way, they don’t want pedestrians (or canines) going with it.
There’s not much boat or barge traffic underneath to worry about, Bronder said, but there are monitoring devices on the bridge, and the county keeps the Coast Guard updated.
BLACK AND WHITE
Alert reader Rob has been keeping an eye on the pavement, and he has a question:
Why are the white stripes encased in black on some of the freeways now?
Roadguy has noticed this phenomenon on the curvy part of Interstate 94 in downtown St. Paul:
Heather Lott, who’s in charge of signs and stripes on metro-area freeways, says white dashes don’t show up as well on concrete as they do on asphalt. So in some places, a black border — called contrast tape — is added to make the stripes easier to see.
Over the past few years, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has been putting the tape on east-west concrete freeways that get a lot of morning and afternoon glare, Lott said, and in places where the stripes don’t line up with the joints in the concrete.
PICKING UP THE TAB
Now that the route of the Central Corridor light-rail line has been decided, alert and emphatic reader Caleb has a question:
Do you know where the money is coming from for this project????
The short answer, Caleb, is you, the taxpayer. Here’s the breakdown for the $892 million line:
• $446 million from the federal government (50 percent)
• $268 million from the new county transit sales tax (30 percent)
• $89 million from the state (10 percent)
• $62 million from Ramsey County (7 percent)
• $27 million from Hennepin County (3 percent)
So unless Caleb moves to Wisconsin and hides from the IRS, we can thank him for helping out.
9 Responses to "Bridge closed — no ifs, ands or dogs; plus, stripes and LRT costs"
My biggest gripe about the striping is that is disappears when the roads are wet. I drive to work around 6 am, and in the spring when it is dark and the snow is melting or the roads are wet, its like a free for all!
Glad to know about the reasoning for bridge closings. I was wondering the exact same thing on that old Cedar Av bicycle bridge Bloomington to Burnsville. You gotta bike miles out of the way to cross the MN river–but if the old bridge could cave in, hey, I’m glad to be re-routed!
Actually, the federal share comes from the federal motor fuels excise tax, so unless Caleb disposes of his car, boat, lawnmower, or any other gasoline-consuming equipment, he cannot avoid the tax.
Technically he only need dispose of his car. I believe gasoline purchases for recreation vehicles, ie his boat and lawnmower, are eligible for some kind of rebate.
Great idea MJ. I think Caleb would be wise to consider your advice.
Roadguy, Do you know if there really is a tax rebate for boat gas? I’ve never heard that before.
The taxlessness (is that a word) of off-highway equipment fuel is true for diesel, but I’ve never heard of any kind of rebate for gasoline.
I suppose if his boat was diesel he could avoid that tax. But to use off-road diesel (with the red dye) for on-highway vehicles is considered tax evasion.
It’s just great when you can spend OPM - other peoples money.
It’s all our money. The Federal Government money is “our collective tax money”.
We paid this in taxes:
• $446 million from the federal government (50 percent)
• $268 million from the new county transit sales tax (30 percent)
• $89 million from the state (10 percent)
• $62 million from Ramsey County (7 percent)
• $27 million from Hennepin County (3 percent)
Oh so funny: The bridge featured on the Minnesota 150 (can’t spell seqesitch..) celebration stamp was just closed.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/05/17/stamp150/
