Does fixing the Crown Point bridge have to be this Kafkaesque?

Last night in Addison, Vermont, government officials pasted up a flow chart showing the steps needed to make a new (or fully refurbished) Crown Point bridge a reality.

Best case scenario, they say, is that construction can begin by 2013.

Remember, this is a problem first identified in 2007. And people have known that the bridge would need a major overhaul since at least 1990.

Have we really reached the point in our society where fixing a vital bridge takes this long?

It’s a little sad and embarrassing, when you consider that the original was built in 14 months…and lasted for eighty years.

So here’s my suggestion.

I think government officials should find two bridges — the Lake Champlain bridge and one other — with roughly equivalent circumstances.

Similar historical importance, similar archeological sites on shore, similar size, etc.

One project should be done using all the red tape and hoop-jumping.

The other should be done using common sense and smart engineering, but without the army of consultants and the years of paper shuffling.

Then the two outcomes should be compared.

If we find that the quick-turnaround bridge is inferior, or that construction did massive ecological damage, or damaged archeological sites unnecessarily, then we’ll know the red tape was worth it.

On the other hand, if it turns out that smart people of good will can still get a tough job done well and quickly, and more cheaply, we’ll have learned something about the dangers of creeping bureaucracy.

As things stand, state and Federal agencies plan to spend $50 million just getting ready to start construction on the new Crown Point bridge.

That cost — and the proposed delays — should inspire a rethink.

This is also a case where the governors of both states need to take a first-hand role in nudging the project forward.