Dead Construction Projects
Over the past week I have driven throughout the US. Starting in Seattle Washington I made my way over the mountains into Spokane then Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. This cross country trip was full of surprises with snow storms one place, freezing rain the next and an occasional burst of sun. The beautiful and vast countryside of the United States was on full display and it was beautiful even with inclement weather.
One thing that was apparent when driving across the country was the large number of “construction” projects taking place. I say that with skepticism because state after state and highway after highway cones were perfectly positioned – reducing lanes and at times bringing traffic to a crawl. What wasn’t seen were the construction equipment and workers that generally accompany them. Maybe in Seattle we do things differently. When construction work is performed in Seattle it will typically go all day and at times all night long. Even when workers are taking a break the side of the road will be dotted with various heavy equipment and tractors of all sizes. On this trip instead of seeing a row of CAT machines I saw a row of cones. Instead of seeing people out their working – I saw a row of cones.
I am not saying there were cones here and there, perhaps warning travelers of dangers, but everywhere and in large quantities. I started to wonder are these all of the construction projects that were “shovel ready” and started under the current administration? Due to the large number of dead and stalled projects along my trip I have to guess that they are federally related. Each state I went through was different than the one before with a unique culture and landscape. It does not seem likely that they all got on the same page, had a meeting over how to make it look like construction work was being done and implemented it only to annoy travelers. That is not in anyone’s best interest – including state governments looking for tourist dollars. The federal governments hand seemed to be all over this one.
The problem is not that there were too many construction projects. The problem is that they were not actually being done. People in this country need jobs. Construction workers need an income. They need to have real, not proposed, projects and work sites to go to every day. Middle class families throughout the country rely on these jobs. When construction workers are laid off due to a lack of work it is sickening to see so many stalled and vacant job sites. Construction work is hard. “The likelihood of a construction worker suffering a work place injury is far higher than the national average.” – Ginarte Law Firm . Voters can do their part to ensure that real construction jobs are brought back so that people with the skills can finish the work and finish it correctly. It does not do our country any good to start projects and not finish them. There are men and women unemployed right now that would happily do the work and free up the roads for drivers again.
