Should a bridge expansion really take 7 years?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

SAYREVILLE — Work is finished in time for the Memorial Day holiday on a bridge that once was a major bottleneck to traffic headed to and from the Jersey shore.

The $225 million reconstruction and expansion has given the Garden State Parkway's Driscoll Bridge greater capacity than the George Washington Bridge. Some 300,000 vehicles travel the span daily.

The project began in 2002 and included the construction of a new span and the rehabilitation of two existing spans over the Raritan River. The bridge went from 12 lanes to 15 and included shoulders. The lack of shoulders had aggravated congestion during breakdowns and accidents.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/200...ONTPAGECAROUSEL

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The Driscol Bridge under construction Wednesday, April 30, 2008 as viewed from Sayreville. South bound traffic is at left.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If you're on a contract and get paid by the hour with no expectation of a completion date - then absolutely it will.

I like how they shut down roads out here for "repair" during the middle of rush hour. Brilliant is what that is.

[almaty 19]

no...they build bridges in the midwest in a couple of years....

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

If you're on a contract and get paid by the hour with no expectation of a completion date - then absolutely it will.

bingo! and then they wonder why we're in debt

fwiw i really like the new bridge ... but it shouldnt have taken 7 yrs imo.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think they've been widening the lanes on the 1 & 9 off of the Garden State Parkway near the Menlo Park mall. That's been going on for at least 2 years - the traffic congestion in that area on weekends is incredible. Backs up on the Parkway!

They did something similar further down the 1&9 near Elizabeth on the way to the Ikea. Where you had a short offramp that people would use to make a sharp left-hand turn - they put in a traffic island to force the traffic to turn right. That took 6 months!

Edited May 20, 2009 by Private Pike

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yeah rt 1 construction is edison has been ongoing for years.... we take backroads to Menlo now don't even bother with 1.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Yeah rt 1 construction is edison has been ongoing for years.... we take backroads to Menlo now don't even bother with 1.

I see the construction equipment but I'm buggered if I can see what they've actually done.

In the UK, what would happen is that if the local council had a budget surplus they'd spend it on some B/S road improvement project (putting in a roundabout is an old favourite), the thinking being that if you don't spend your allocated budget it will be cut the following year.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yeah rt 1 construction is edison has been ongoing for years.... we take backroads to Menlo now don't even bother with 1.

I see the construction equipment but I'm buggered if I can see what they've actually done.

In the UK, what would happen is that if the local council had a budget surplus they'd spend it on some B/S road improvement project (putting in a roundabout is an old favourite), the thinking being that if you don't spend your allocated budget it will be cut the following year.

They've done a lot. I used to work at Menlo in college back in the mid 90s, took Rt 1 all the time back then. It's changed a lot but the pace is maddeningly slow.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Thankfully Jose Tejas is the other way, and you can usually get on the GSP ramp before getting bogged down in all that congestion.

This sort of thing can also happen because the architects bungle the design, or is the project runs overbudget or into bureaucratic red tape. Not always the fault of the construction company, but it often is.

Government contracts are cushy and well-paid for that sort of work. I worked construction briefly in LA installing storm drains for a school - I was the lowest paid person there at $17/hr. A lot of those guys were making double that.

Edited May 20, 2009 by Private Pike

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Have you seen the pedestrian overpass they've built over Rt 1? Apparently, they envision that one day people will want to walk from Metuchen to Perth Amboy.. so they're building a walking path of which the overpass is a component. Retarded!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well I like what they're doing in Port Authority in NYC. There are "artists impressions" of improved waiting areas - but the picture doesn't look any different from what it looks like now.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

They don't need more waiting areas, they need more goddamn capacity Hopefully the new Trans Hudson tunnels will deliver.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I just hate it when construction in the middle of the road during rush hours. Wish those civil engineers can plan them better. I have respect for them.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I just hate it when construction in the middle of the road during rush hours. Wish those civil engineers can plan them better. I have respect for them.

I am one of a small number of males in my extended family who isn't a civil engineer, I respect them too although I wish they'd stfu from time to time.