I was putting something together on this, then I saw that Jeff beat me to the punch — he gets up a lot earlier than me, obviously!
Two things really stand out to me about this DMN article. The first is how can anything be compressed like Leppert is talking about? The Army Corp has stated time and again that they are a year out from completing the environmental and floodway impacts of a road. You don’t push, or undercut, the study of Mother Nature. That’s how you get sinking levees in sand pits in Lakeview and New Orleans east. Just ask my wife’s family and friends about that.
Secondly, the canard that was used all the time by Leppert as to why the project has ballooned to 1.3 billion is now tossed out as a reason to rush. "Highway construction costs, which are closely tied to energy prices, are rising by about 10 percent a year. A year’s delay, then, on a $1.3 billion tollway could increase its price tag by $130 million." Please give me a break. I thought that we were through with all the doomsday scenarios when the voting ended. If this is the way the project is going to be positioned going forward, it seems an awfully convenient way for backers to position themselves next election, when things will still be under study because there has never been a road built inside a floodway before!
