Recently, stories have been released in the news on bridges Locally, they say they will replace the current 4 lane bridge with a new one, expected to cost a billion dollars. I do hope to live long enough to see just how much the cost over runs will be. If I were a betting man, I’d have to put my bet on at least 1.3 billion. Invariably all government projects take 30% more than planned.

Truth be told, I think it is planned that way. I’ll let you speculate why. I have my own guesses.

One thing I do find interesting is that I did have some difficulty determining how many lanes it will have. Let’s face it, what is the point of replacing a 4 lane bridge with a 4 lane bridge. It seems to me it would simply be better to put the bridge somewhere else.

After some searching on the web, I found where they said they “hope” to make it at least 6 lanes. I have two concerns about that. Is it 6 lanes or not. More importantly, they will likely start pouring concrete soon. I would hope they have their minds made up by then.

As something as a secondary thought. Even if they are going to a 6 lane bridge, wouldn’t it be better to put it somewhere else? That way, 6 lanes are added instead of 2.

Even if the idea is to cease use of the old bridge, putting the bridge elsewhere removes the need of demolition of the old bridge. Well, the demolition isn’t likely that much anyway, just a couple of few million. I am sure the government can afford it.

Switching attention east. Just a simple straightforward suggestion on the Francis Scott Key Bridge. If they commenced tunneling, they might have been almost done now. Right now, I would guess they are over a month away from starting the foundation of the bridge.

On another note, it is really difficult for a ship to run into a tunnel.