Tuesday, March 8, 2011
City New South Park Bridge: Cheaper than Expected
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 2:49 PM
- Soggydan via Flickr
- If you want it then you shoulda put a bridge on it.
Construction is slated to begin in May on the new bridge, which will hopefully be open by mid-2013, according to the county's road services division. Before the bridge closed, it carried 20,000 cars and nearly 3,000 trucks each day over the Duwamish River.
1
Man, there is something about an elevated structure that just says Simplicity and Lower Cost, isn't there ...
Hmmm, maybe we should just replace the Viaduct with another one?
Hmmm, maybe we should just replace the Viaduct with another one?
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This is a 20th Century solution to a 21st Century problem! How is this bridge carrying 23,000 cars and trucks going to reduce our greenhouse emissions? We clearly don't need this bridge, it's been closed and everything is fine. STOP THIS BRIDGE! Dominic? Cary Moon? Are ya with me?
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@3
the cars & trucks that still need to get to south park, now have to take the 1st ave bridge, which will actually increase the amount of greenhouse gases emitted for the majority of those trips. so the full equation would have to ask whether the increase in greenhouse gases from the trips that are still getting made there minus the trips that are no longer being made due to the closure of the bridge is greater or less than the greenhouse gases emitted from the 20-23,000 trips a day that used to go over that bridge. and that doesn't get into the economic cost to the neighborhood, as any reduction in greenhouse gases from the closure of the south park bridge comes at the expense of the south park community businesses. people were going there for a reason after all.
if you want to get really crazy w/ it, you should also add up the increase in greenhouse gases emitted due to increased traffic on the 1st ave bridge w/ the additional 20,000 or so trips a day happening on it.
the cars & trucks that still need to get to south park, now have to take the 1st ave bridge, which will actually increase the amount of greenhouse gases emitted for the majority of those trips. so the full equation would have to ask whether the increase in greenhouse gases from the trips that are still getting made there minus the trips that are no longer being made due to the closure of the bridge is greater or less than the greenhouse gases emitted from the 20-23,000 trips a day that used to go over that bridge. and that doesn't get into the economic cost to the neighborhood, as any reduction in greenhouse gases from the closure of the south park bridge comes at the expense of the south park community businesses. people were going there for a reason after all.
if you want to get really crazy w/ it, you should also add up the increase in greenhouse gases emitted due to increased traffic on the 1st ave bridge w/ the additional 20,000 or so trips a day happening on it.
5
Actually, the main positive impact on GHG/carbon emissions was the decision by the Port of Seattle to provide dwell lots for trucks with hookups so they could use that instead of keep the engines turning. Which also meant they didn't have to travel back and forth so much.
But wouldn't an Ultra-expensive Tunnel have looked prettier to the Property Developers?
But wouldn't an Ultra-expensive Tunnel have looked prettier to the Property Developers?
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ian, you are a treasure.
maybe if we could guarantee that the beneficiaries of the tunnel were poor . . . .
oh, wait. did anyone see who was fer and who was agin' the tunnel at the City Council meeting?
fer: blue collar laborers, many of whom are not white.
agin': white yuppies.
but the South Park Bridge, well, that's totally different.
i guess because that's a bridge, not a tunnel? (more bourbon to ease the headache, please.)
maybe if we could guarantee that the beneficiaries of the tunnel were poor . . . .
oh, wait. did anyone see who was fer and who was agin' the tunnel at the City Council meeting?
fer: blue collar laborers, many of whom are not white.
agin': white yuppies.
but the South Park Bridge, well, that's totally different.
i guess because that's a bridge, not a tunnel? (more bourbon to ease the headache, please.)
9
Yes, Will, tunnels suck and they're expensive. We should tell BNSF to fill in its horrible tunnel so we can have elevated freight trains through downtown. We should tell Sound Transit to fill in the Beacon Hill tunnel and run trains at surface up to Capitol Hill, across the Montlake Cut and through the University District to Roosevelt. Get those cars out of the Battery Street Tunnel and put them on the streets of Belltown where everyone can enjoy them.
Hell, we should just eliminate sewers and get some raw sewage running through ditches or at-grade pipes. Why are our water, natural gas and gasoline pipelines underground? Because tunnels suck, and at-grade infrastructure is simpler and cheaper. And we should have overhead rather than underground electric and TV cable (simpler! cheaper!). And rip out Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island! Why bury traffic, when it's simpler and cheaper for everyone to enjoy it on the surface?
After all, the Roman aqueducts run above ground. Why should we expect any progress after 2000 years?
Hell, we should just eliminate sewers and get some raw sewage running through ditches or at-grade pipes. Why are our water, natural gas and gasoline pipelines underground? Because tunnels suck, and at-grade infrastructure is simpler and cheaper. And we should have overhead rather than underground electric and TV cable (simpler! cheaper!). And rip out Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island! Why bury traffic, when it's simpler and cheaper for everyone to enjoy it on the surface?
After all, the Roman aqueducts run above ground. Why should we expect any progress after 2000 years?
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Considering the cost of a standard overpass on any highway in America ranges from $6 million to $9 million.
Wow. What a bargain! Guess that's why Seattle is so smart. They pay 10x as much things.
Shoot. If someone paid me 10x what something is worth, I'd call them a gosh darn Nobel Prize Laureate!
Wow. What a bargain! Guess that's why Seattle is so smart. They pay 10x as much things.
Shoot. If someone paid me 10x what something is worth, I'd call them a gosh darn Nobel Prize Laureate!
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@10, and the similarities between the South Park bascule bridge over the Duwamish River and a standard highway overpass are...what, exactly?
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