Never ending construction projects

[dys]

I wonder if this phenomenon only happens in my neck of the woods. There are several projects near me that have been going on for years and years and years and never get completed. There is a bridge near my house that they have been working on for over 15 years (yup, that's no typo). There is a highway near where I live that they have been working on (what they are doing I have no idea) for AT LEAST 20 years. There are several others that mostly involve bridges that are well past the 10 year mark. For some of these projects, when I drive by there are 1 or 2 guys working, but that's it. For others, there is no one ever there but the equipment gets moved around every other day or so. And the highway, there are always plenty of people there. It's pretty wild.

When I make inquiries as to what is happening with these projects, no one at town halls can tell me and the media won't touch the story, either. Furthermore, most of my friends/familiy don't seem to care in the slightest bit about this. It's just bizarre. I'm not suggesting an NWO fueled conspiracy (although anything is possible these days), I'm thinking graft and back room contractors are getting paid off somehow.

Has anyone else experienced this?

dys

[horseshoe3]

Do you live in Illinois or Louisianna?

[Shami-Amourae]

There's a major street intersection near me that they have been "widening" for 6 years now. There's always steam rollers, cones, and men out there, but it never gets completed.

[chad]

there's a section of the northshore about halfway between duluth and thunder bay that i know they've been working on for at least 12 years.

a section of the interstate near my house was completed in 2008. they tore it all up this june. i don't know what they're doing to it.

[madfranks]

Come on, dys, you know the answer. These are the jobs created under Obama's "reinvestment act", but instead of digging holes and filling them up, they have people putting traffic cones down and then picking them back up. It's the same over here, stretches of perfectly fine road being blocked off by traffic cones, a handful of guys standing around, then they pick the cones back up.

[hoarder]

I'm not suggesting an NWO fueled conspiracy (although anything is possible these days), I'm thinking graft and back room contractors are getting paid off somehow.Wnen massive graft goes on right under the noses of public officials and mass media for that long, is there any possibility that people are not conspiring??

[k-os]

Come on, dys, you know the answer. These are the jobs created under Obama's "reinvestment act", but instead of digging holes and filling them up, they have people putting traffic cones down and then picking them back up. It's the same over here, stretches of perfectly fine road being blocked off by traffic cones, a handful of guys standing around, then they pick the cones back up.

In my trip all across America (mostly in National/State/County/City Parks) I saw large signs that said "Future sight of ________. Project Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act". I should have taken a picture of all of them, because there were so many.

The Stimulus paid for a $ 40K renovation of a small park that nobody used before, and still nobody uses. Although I did not want to spend the money, the Mayor's stance was "If we don't use it, someone else will, so we may as well use it." I was one of the only dissenters.

[k-os]

Wnen massive graft goes on right under the noses of public officials and mass media for that long, is there any possibility that people are not conspiring??

I think it's possible that they are conspiring, but also that they're just lazy or fearful of consequences.

[hoarder]

I think it's possible that they are conspiring, but also that they're just lazy or fearful of consequences.If no one was conspiring, how would there be any consequences?

[k-os]

If no one was conspiring, how would there be any consequences?

Good point.

[dys]

I can't get over this highway thing. Twenty years and to this day if you need to travel on it at 10:00pm until midnight it's gridlock for about 7 miles. That seems to be the only time they work on it, but it's 7 days a week. It's comical if not annoying.

dys

[jimswift]

Have a 2-3 mile stretch of road around here that been 'under' for better than 3 years. It's just a widening, but it's been for ever in the making. I deal with the county engineering department and asked the woman in charge the other day about it.

I said "so what's happening with that...y'all run out of money or something?" She replied with a surprised look, that, no, they had to do some checks with this that and the other...gas lines, etc..

but it's just as described above, cones up, cones down. There are some trucks and equipment moving around, but no real advancement in finishing but every so often. Like they are just dragging it out.

[Neuro]

The main highway going through Stockholm in Sweden has been like that for at least 20 years. I think the workers have been genetically modified, so they and their offspring can only work on that stretch of highway. It would be cruel and inhumane to stop the work! :)

[madfranks]

Have a 2-3 mile stretch of road around here that been 'under' for better than 3 years. It's just a widening, but it's been for ever in the making. I deal with the county engineering department and asked the woman in charge the other day about it.

I said "so what's happening with that...y'all run out of money or something?" She replied with a surprised look, that, no, they had to do some checks with this that and the other...gas lines, etc..

but it's just as described above, cones up, cones down. There are some trucks and equipment moving around, but no real advancement in finishing but every so often. Like they are just dragging it out.

They are dragging it out! Here's why: if the money came from a source that had any interest whatsoever in getting a good value for their money (i.e. a private company), there would have been a limited budget and limited time to get the maximum amount of value built. But when the federal gov't hands you an arbitrarily determined lump sum and says "you have x months to use this or we take it back", you will drag your work out to maximize how much of that money you can take while minimizing your actual expenses. Because there is no real interest to get a good value for the money (the interest is in "creating jobs"), you have paving companies taking huge amounts of money with no stipulation on how much value should be returned with that money, so they drag it out & milk that baby as long as they can.

[Dogman]

They are dragging it out! Here's why: if the money came from a source that had any interest whatsoever in getting a good value for their money (i.e. a private company), there would have been a limited budget and limited time to get the maximum amount of value built. But when the federal gov't hands you an arbitrarily determined lump sum and says "you have x months to use this or we take it back", you will drag your work out to maximize how much of that money you can take while minimizing your actual expenses. Because there is no real interest to get a good value for the money (the interest is in "creating jobs"), you have paving companies taking huge amounts of money with no stipulation on how much value should be returned with that money, so they drag it out & milk that baby as long as they can. Agree!

The use of deadlines with penalty's if not completed on time. Would solve the never ending projects problem.

[Twisted Titan]

your tax dollars hard at work palm greasing then next slime ball that will keep that schackles on your neck nice and tight