Theme Day: What Annoys Me In My City

52 Daily Photo sites are participating in the February 1st theme "What really annoys me in my city", please use the links below to visit them. (Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day.)

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I actually struggled with the February theme day as it takes a lot to annoy me and I wasn't going to participate. However, I learned a few things in the month of January and I'm rather annoyed, thus my photo of traffic. You see, back in 2003 the government finally started a bridge/highway reconstruction project. It was a very time consuming, a lot of money and a lot of work to get this problem area corrected. [I'll try to make this short] Part of the project was to replace the Wakota Bridge over the Mississippi River. It was 2 lanes in each direction. They would build one bridge, divert traffic to new bridge. Then build a second bridge and end up with FIVE lanes of traffic in each direction. Yes, the highway was a major traffic problem area.

Now the annoying part. They built the first bridge in what appeared to be the normal time frame. [keep in mind, this was a five year project] However, it sat there for a long time with nothing more completed on it. Months passed. I find out that there was a delay in the project. The claimed they had to "retro fit" new technology into the new bridge. Wow! That's exciting! That was the "feel good" term that was used to disguise that the bridge had developed, and I quote again "micro cracks". If cracks the size of your arm is considered "micro" then okay, they have a point.

They worked on the bridge for an extra year fixing the problems. More money spent. Instead of a five year project, it has now become a SIX year project. Fine, I can live with it for another year.

Wakota Bridge update....and I quote [and link]: "The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced today that the eastbound Wakota Bridge construction has been eliminated from the current contract. The decision came after months of negotiations failed to develop an agreement for construction of the remaining bridge. According to Khani Sahebjam, Mn/DOT’s Metro District Engineer, “Mn/DOT concluded that in fairness to Minnesota taxpayers and to fulfill our responsibility to manage construction costs, the eastbound Wakota Bridge construction would be reopened for competitive bidding.”"

Yes, they have opened the second bridge back up for bidders so they can complete the project. MORE DELAYS and will most likely push the completion date in to 2009. A SEVEN year construction project.

This annoys me very much now.