Should a major highway artery running through a major city take "months" to repair?
That seems to be the case with highway collapse in Philadelphia, which officials say will take "months" to repair.
According to Reuters:
Smoke billowed from the rubble of the collapsed section of the northbound lanes of I-95, the main north-south interstate on the East Coast. Video showed emergency vehicles and workers gathered in the vicinity of the huge chunk of the charred, collapsed overpass. Traffic in both directions of the eight-lane highway was halted due to concerns about the structural integrity of the remaining southbound lanes.
US President Joe Biden was briefed on the collapse and the White House has offered help to state and local officials, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
US transport secretary Pete Buttigieg said the closure of I-95 will have “significant impacts” on the region and the city of Philadelphia. Buttigieg said on Twitter that he was coordinating with regional leaders for recovery and rebuilding efforts.
Pete to the rescue. Feel better now?
Oh, he's looking busy.
Which is more than we usually see of him during a crisis.
He's been distributing a lot of infrastructure money, which makes one wonder why none of it that went to preventing major accidents like this one, on a high-traffic, wear-and-tear-dilapidated crossroads like Philadelphia:
Somehow, it never reaches the places where the most disruption can happen. A look at the link Buttigieg provided about federal infrastructure projects in the Philadelphia area shows one major safety project regarding natural gas, which is good, and a slew of green energy transition projects which well outnumber that likely important natural gas safety project. Also, there's no major private infrastructure spending in the deep blue city, which is no surprise.
Instead of shelling out cash for loopy green and energy projects and smart buildings, maybe Buttigieg's department ought to focus on actual safety reinforcements for critical and neglected existing infrastructure along with backup plans, such as this one suggested here:.
He's also larded up government projects with new regulations and reporting requirements, plus minority contracting requirements, which don't match the urgency of the situation. That will certainly keep the repair of the broken highway in the "months" state for repair as commuters curse the stop and go traffic from even less well-maintained back roads.
And let's not even get started when he starts in about rebuilding with "green" specifications. It's coming...
Just rebuild the thing and skip the green. Skip the DEI regulations, skip the red tape and get it done. If this were any place other than the leftist-led U.S., the repair of the highway would be taking weeks, not months, and all stops would be pulled out to get it done on time if not ahead of schedule, the way Florida's Gob. Ron DeSantis was able to do with the washed away bridge to Sanibel Island in the wake of a recent major hurricane near Fort Myers and Naples.
Can Pete beat Ron for getting the roads moving again?
Not at this point. These guys plan to take "months" and Buttigieg should be all over them cut regulations and speed the process up. The reality is, he's at least one of them slowing the repairs down.
Image: Twitter screen shot