I think those people hoping to land the contract sabotaged it. That’s my conspiracy theory….

Amen! Let the bridge fall apart until it collapses (hopefully on a Saturday around 11am), then let the game day traffic try to find its own way where it wants to go. Folks will get so annoyed with coming to AA for games, they won’t anymore. *Then* if the U doesn’t want to help with the bridge, we can go ahead and pay for it knowing that it will last a bit longer with less football traffic coming over it.

“”They’ve got two bridges connecting, sidewalks and bicycle lanes. They’re going to raise them from where they are now… If you need more clearance, that’s what you do. It’s just too much,” he told The Chronicle.

The planned replacement bridges will be higher to meet current design standards. Like the old structures, they will have two lanes in each direction. Unlike the old structures, they will have sidewalks on both sides and bicycle lanes.

Federal authorities require both, said Nekritz, the federal bridge engineer.”

fwiw, I think it’s great that they are required.

Mr. Goetzke, your website appears to have been subverted by third parties. It is listed by Google as an “attack site”, one that spreads infectious damaging software. The Firefox browser program detects these sites and warns visitors, other browsers like Internet Explorer and Safari don’t necessarily detect this.
For more information, do a Google websearch on the address of your site, and look for the “This site may harm your computer” link.

I could not help but zero in on Homayoon Pirooz’ statement, “If Ann Arbor needed to use those locally-generated dollars on the bridges, most other maintenance work would be suspended for 3-4 years, he said. “It would have a significant impact on streets and roads.”

Lack of action on the bridge has already had a “significant impact” on a vital artery in the City for over a year now. There is $22.7M in the Street Repair Millage Fund (June 30, 2008)and it has been operating at a surplus most years. It is time that council makes a decision and fix the bridge or take it down! We need strong leadership from City Council and the Mayor.

Ask the Engineers, they will agree it is cheaper. But, they don’t know how much it is – they never received any quotes, never sent it out for bid, etc. It costs perhaps $5 million per mile to install a road. How much to take down the bridge? How much for other incidentals? We could save several million dollars by not installing it, and in my opinion, make for a much better traffic pattern through the neighborhoods.

Just because the City says it is the only way to do things does not make it so. They were very dismissive and have not done everything I think they can to pursue the least expensive alternative.

You don’t need a degree to question how and why money is being spent, not do I need to be a road engineer to understand it would fit instead of a bridge. It is a spacial problem, not a mechanical problem.

Bottom line is, nobody on the city council could tell you how much we could save by putting in an at grade road because they never found out. Nor could they tell you how the public feels because they never found out. That is the fundamental problem. And, they are spending over $20 million of our money.