BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER....

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down. When I look at this whole bridge fiasco I am reminded of this line from Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over troubled water." And why not? At the rate we are going we will have no bridge at all.

You may wonder why I am so negative. Quite frankly I think in the case of the bridge we are all negative. We have been told for years that we would get one. Anne Northup told us she had the funding and we would start construction. She even went so far as to have a major photo op in the East End with Jerry Abramson, and other so called leaders with shovels in their hand, turning dirt to symbolize the beginning of the construction.

7 years ago. We still have not started. When Northup lost to Yarmuth we "lost" the funding. Of course the funding was never there, or we would not be where we are today.

There have been known cracks in the Sherman Minton for years now as we are finally being told. Could we have avoided tis fiasco by doing more maintenance when the problems began?

Probably.

There are also cracks in the Kennedy in the same T-1 steel that is the problem with the Sherman Minton. Of course Kentucky leaders say it is ok and no big deal. Never mind that they are adding more weight to the bridge and more traffic to a bridge that is outdated and overused anyway.

We are to believe in our leaders right?

The Minneapolis bridge that collapsed in August 2007 was rebuilt in 339 days folks. That is no typo. 339 days. Predictably, the CJ started with their spin of how this can't be done here in an article today.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110915/EXTRAS18/309150011/Minneapolis-replaced-its-bridge-13-months-why-can-t-we-

Of course, the CJ has been on board protecting the Democrats thoughout this community and certainly River Fields who are the true obstructionists.

So what happens now?

The Kennedy was built to handle a maximum of 100,000 vehicles per day and has exceeded that for many years with the most recent numbers I have looked at showing 120,000 daily. Of course this adds more stress to the bridge itself which would surely be a warning sign when cracks are found there right?

Wrong.

Kentucky says it is ok to add another 80,000 vehicles potential to the added stress (80,000 from Sherman Minton per day). We are now to believe that the Kennedy can handle the strain? Common sense dictates the answer is a resounding NO.

So here we are. The Sherman Minton is shut down by Indiana due to a critical failure in T-1 steel beams. Indiana says close it because they are the authority on the SM. Kennedy, however, while showing the same cracks in the same questionable steel stays open with new added volume and that is ok.

You guessed it Kentucky has the authority for the Kennedy. Where is the FHTSA?

The Federal Highway Traffic and Safety Administration surely would agree that this is a transportation crisis thereby negating the arguments from the CJ right? Being a crisis and an emergency River Fileds could be avoided correct?

Is no one paying attention to the fact that I-65, which includes the Kennedy, is THE major interchange to get from Florida to Detroit? Would that make it worthy of emergency federal funding?

We can give banks trillions of dollars due to their own illegal dealings and cannot find a way to fund an immediate bridge? Hogwash.

It is past time for so called leaders like John Yarmuth to call off his dogs in River Fields and say yes to an East End bridge and now replacing the Sherman Minton. Forget the fact that his home sits right in the way of the exit from the East End Bridge, which of course would be acquired through eminent domain, and perhaps the real reason he is using River Fields to obstruct this project.

As we learned from Minneapolis we CAN achieve results when there is the will to do so. Do we need more lives lost due to KNOWN faulty construction on our aging infrastructure?

I think not. Tonight on the Ed Springston Show at www.blogtalkradio.com/myviewmatters at 7 pm, I want to know if you agree.

It is time our "leaders" actually led.

Otherwise, our community is held hostage to a Bridge over troubled water.

That is not acceptable.........