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.<\/p>\n
Best case scenario, they say, is that construction can begin by 2013.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Have we really reached the point in our society where fixing a vital bridge takes this long?<\/p>\n
It’s a little sad and embarrassing, when you consider that the original was built in 14 months…and lasted for eighty years.<\/p>\n
So here’s my suggestion.<\/p>\n
I think government officials should find two bridges — the Lake Champlain bridge and one other — with roughly equivalent circumstances.<\/p>\n
Similar historical importance, similar archeological sites on shore, similar size, etc.<\/p>\n
One project should be done using all the red tape and hoop-jumping.<\/p>\n
The other should be done using common sense and smart engineering, but without the army of consultants and the years of paper shuffling.<\/p>\n
Then the two outcomes should be compared.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
As things stand, state and Federal agencies plan to spend $50 million just getting ready to start construction on the new Crown Point bridge.<\/p>\n
That cost — and the proposed delays — should inspire a rethink.<\/p>\n
This is also a case where the governors of both states need to take a first-hand role in nudging the project forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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