WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

Yesterday, I sat in traffic for more than an hour and a half coming home from my Philadelphia office (normally a 20 minute trip). Ultimately, the cause turned out to be road construction in town, on the river drives, on the expressway . . .

Now, I know we need to repair our roads and other infrastructure, and that while many companies try to keep these repairs to off-hours, it cannot always be done that way. My question is more fundamental; when lanes of traffic are blocked off and several lanes funneled into a “cattle chute,” and it has been going on in the same stretch of roadway (about a 50 meter stretch) for the last year, with no progress noted, WHAT ARE THEY DOING?!

The only explanation I can think of is an open ended contract in which the company is paid for time and materials no matter how long they take. With today’s economy, they simply take years to accomplish what could be done in days or weeks.

It’s time to end the anger, frustration, and overpayments. Either these companies can complete their repairs on time and within budget, or we need to find ones who can. Mr. Mayor, Governor, you’re spending our money and wasting our time every day. If you cannot get these things completed, please turn the job over to someone who can, or we’ll have to have the discussion again during each election cycle.