Thursday, July 26, 2007
…And So It Begins
The North Shore Connector—otherwise known as Pittsburgh’s Big Dig—is off to a less than stellar start. First problems with soil density will result in an additional $3 to $4 million expenditure (it will come from a $9 million contingency fund). Then utility lines that were missed on blueprints will add another $300,000 in expenses. Now comes the departure—whether voluntary and involuntary—of the authority’s engineer and point man on the project.
Is this the shape of things to come for the Connector? Don’t forget the lengths officials from the Federal government and the region went to shepherd this project along. Money was reallocated, revisions made to ridership projections that drastically changed the cost to benefit ratio, yet hardly an eyelash was batted. Instead, the project was viewed as manna from heaven since the Feds were funding a substantial part of it, funding that would have gone somewhere else should the project be abandoned. Boosters for the project seemed to be in lockstep then.
Now there is some disagreement between the PAT board chairman and CEO on the departure of the engineer and the “go-to guy” for the Connector. The former labeled the departure “crazy” while the latter stated “we’re not really changing up”.
Are these a harbinger of things to come for this colossal boondoggle project?
Is this the shape of things to come for the Connector? Don’t forget the lengths officials from the Federal government and the region went to shepherd this project along. Money was reallocated, revisions made to ridership projections that drastically changed the cost to benefit ratio, yet hardly an eyelash was batted. Instead, the project was viewed as manna from heaven since the Feds were funding a substantial part of it, funding that would have gone somewhere else should the project be abandoned. Boosters for the project seemed to be in lockstep then.
Now there is some disagreement between the PAT board chairman and CEO on the departure of the engineer and the “go-to guy” for the Connector. The former labeled the departure “crazy” while the latter stated “we’re not really changing up”.
Are these a harbinger of things to come for this colossal boondoggle project?
