Re: I-40/I-73 Greensboro to become I-73 only: It IS the money only


"John Lansford" <jlnsford@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"George Conklin" <nil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"John Lansford" <jlnsford@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"George Conklin" <nil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"John Lansford" <jlnsford@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"argatlam_roads@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <argatlam_roads@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[Mr. Dunlop:]

Well, I did tell y'all the reason last week -- Money. But you
didn't
believe me! ;-)

I saw your post and saw no reason to doubt it was a factual
account,
but
it was not complete. It costs in both money and disruption to
change
the signs over; meanwhile, a hidden designation would presumably
save
this money and disruption. So, did NCDOT consider the alternative
of
giving Business 40 a hidden designation? If it did, what were the
reasons for not adopting it?

Probably precedence; NCDOT has never created a 'hidden interstate'
designation and, knowing our local FHWA office, they might well
object
to that kind of technical qualification for IM funding.

The News and Observer says,

The state Department of Transportation stands to regain about $3
million
a
year in lost highway money when it returns Interstate 40 to its old
route
through Greensboro's congested, crash-prone Death Valley corridor....
DOT
officials said the deciding factor was a chance to restore federal
interstate maintenance money, which the Greensboro area lost when its
Death
Valley route was renamed Business 40 in February.
----
So, public safety be damned. One or two truck crashes on the old
route
will
pay for the "savings," but those losses ar private. Maybe what we
need
now
is a good lawyer to sue to the state over this issue.

IM and IR money can be used to upgrade and rehab that route too,
George. Not saying that's why I-40 got moved back, but if it was a
"business" route only or just a US route, the pool of available funds
to do any upgrades or rehab work is very small.


There is NO indication that the $3 million will be used to upgrade Death
Valley. And how can you challenge the News and Observer? Aren't they
always right? -:)

I'm not saying that; I'm just pointing out that if there are plans to
upgrade the route, having an interstate designation allows the use of
IM and IR money to fund it. If it's a Business or US route, only the
general highway money can be used on it, and there's a large # of
projects already needing those funds. Even minor safety work such as
guardrail/median upgrades can be funded using IM/IR money, for
example.

John Lansford, PE
--
John's Shop of Wood
http://wood.jlansford.net/

Safety is more important and $3 million will not even pay for minor
changes in Death Valley, let alone doing it all over again. And who is
paying for Business 40 through downtown Winston-Salem, the route they really
want to close for 2-3 years to fix it up? Should they reroute I-40 back
through downtown Winston-Salem with 1 lane open so they can work on it for
the projected 7 years if they keep it open? That would give some federal
money too. Same siutuation in Greensboro.


.

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