Why Use Common Sense?

Hi Everyone,

So it has finally been finalized, without the need of or obvious use of any common sense. The outcome is basically what I had expected. What I am talking about? The new Tappan Zee bridge that will cross the Hudson river between Tarrytown, New York and Nyack, New York. The Tappan Zee bridge is the only bridge between the George Washington bridge to the south and the Bear Mountain bridge to the north.

The back story goes like this: the Tappan Zee bridge was opened in 1955 as a six lane bridge. For whatever reason, probably the cost, the bridge was built as a temporary one with a life expectancy of 50 years. These past 57 years have not been easy for this bridge. Besides the fact that it requires huge expenditures of money to keep it "safe", the question became why pour good money after bad if it had reached its life span?

Evidence of the bridge not being able to handle the huge influx in the amount of traffic that crosses it daily began about 27+ years ago. Of course there were the usual traffic jams, almost always on the side of rush hour. The median barrier was eventually removed and a moveable center barrier was installed to turn the six lane bridge into a seven lane bridge. The moveable barrier was moved twice a day to increase the rush hour side to four lanes. That solution didn't last long since the traffice jams continued to occur. Even adding E-Z pass about 15 years ago didn't help move traffic along much quicker.

Talk of replacing the bridge has been happening for about 20 or so years. You would think in all that time, that the powers to be would have been able to use some common sense in the design and use of a new bridge. First of all and the best solution, in my opinion, was a tunnel, that also had a light rail line. That idea was tossed due to cost and how and where to have the tunnel see the light of day at each end. The second solution was a single span bridge that had a light rail and/or bus transit system running down the middle of the bridge. Again that idea was tossed due to cost. So the final idea that was approved for $3.9 billion and is now in the process of having the pilings pounded into the river bottom, is a twin span bridge with no new mass transit option what so ever. Additionally, the new bridge will have a whopping total of eight lanes of traffic. Which doesn't even add an extra lane during rush hour. The final design is so short sighted and lacks any common sense at all floors me, but doesn't surprise me. What I find utterly stupid and out of touch with reality is that they are building two spans which will be more expensive then one span. There will be no option for mass transit. If money was and is an issue, build a single span bridge with the center section space left void for a future mass transit system of some kind. The least that the powers to be could have done is left open the option for some kind mass transit that could be built in the future. But noooooooooooo, that is not going to happen, which makes zero sense on any level.

What is going to happen is this: on the very day the new bridge opens, it will already be outdated, since it will not be able to handle the amount of traffic. It will be no better than the current bridge at being able to handle traffic. What will then happen in another 5-10 years when even more traffic uses the bridge? Since there is no mass transit option, the answer to that question is more and longer traffic jams and delays. What a great way to show how not to use common sense.

On a side note, the actual design of the bridge, in my opinion, is blase and dull. But hey, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Til next week.

Peter