State lists 40 bridges that may need fixing fast, but the question remains what did they do with all the money in the Transportation fund ?
FEBRUARY 3, 2015, 4:25 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015, 10:12 AM
BY JOHN CICHOWSKI
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
As Governor Christie’s new transportation commissioner sees it, you don’t need a civil engineering degree to recognize some of the obvious weaknesses in the 40 bridges that his engineers have placed on the Department of Transportation’s high-priority list for immediate inspection, including the Route 3 link over the Hackensack River that’s now undergoing emergency repair.
Related: High priority N.J. bridges for 2015
“It’s quite simple,” Jamie Fox observed. “As anyone can see, our bridges are old and crumbling. If we don’t identify a dedicated funding source now, we’ll have no choice but to close more bridges to ensure public safety.”
In addition to the Route 3 span that connects East Rutherford to Secaucus, 12 of the 40 are in North Jersey — four in Bergen County, four in Hudson and two each in Morris and Essex. Replacing or rehabilitating all 13 would cost a minimum of $300 million — a preliminary DOT estimate that would surely rise sharply by the time work is completed.
Lefties love to keep harping on about “our crumbling infrastructure” and the mean old Republicans who stand in the way of getting it upgraded. I think I speak for the majority of my fellow Conservatives and Republicans who would dearly love to see public funds go into these badly-needed improvements, but the issue is always the crapola that stands between the tax payers and what actually gets done.
If our past and present governors stop playing games with the money just maybe some of these problems can be fixed. I find it does not matter what party all are lousy politicians and there is more than enough blame to go around.