Hey, Look What I Found!
A planned “flyover” aimed at unblocking a bottleneck on the lakefront path for cyclists, joggers and in-line skaters near Navy Pier was approved Thursday by the city’s plan commission.
Construction for the $40 to $45 million project could begin in spring 2012, said Brian Steele, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Transportation. The city has already secured $34 million of that pricetag in federal funds.
The idea is to separate lakefront recreational traffic from daily pedestrian traffic, which is currently all funneled along a narrow sidewalk on the lower level of the Lake Shore Drive Bridge across the Chicago River.
$34 million in federal money leaves around $6 - 11 million in city tax money located. Add in the regular 10% cost overruns for anything built in Chicago and there's $15 million Shortshanks just pulled out of his ass.
Labels: money questions
posted by SCC at 12:01 AM
40 Comments:
I saw an artist's conception of this on TV today and it's like the Berlin Wall gone airborne. The whole lake-view side of the overpass is solid corrugated matal sheeting -- you can't see a thing from what should be a spectacular overlook -- with more solid metal sheeting shields bent WAY inwards until they form nearly a half-roof, to prevent anything from being thrown over the side.
Why not just hang a 15'-diameter culvert pipe across there, put in paving and light bulbs to bust, and let it turn into the city's longest, highest urinal, graffitti gallery, and mugger trap?
Ugly, ugly, ugly. Ugly as sin. Tens of millions of dollars worth of ugly.
Add in the regular 10% cost overruns for anything built in Chicago and there's $15 million Shortshanks just pulled out of his ass.
more like 100%.
I wonder who is going to make the big bucks off of this deal?
OT - Another day, another scam
Chicago Police, Fire Tests Doctored, U.S. Charges
Company that conducted physical tests is alleged to have faked physicians' signatures
A company responsible for helping ensure Chicago police and fire candidates were up to the physical demands of the jobs has been charged with fraud for allegedly doctoring paperwork, authorities said Thursday.
Authorities said the company tested more than 10,000 Chicago fire and police candidates and employees during the six-year scheme between 1999 and 2005. The city overpaid the company about $600,000 as a result of the fraud, prosecutors alleged.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/news/
local/ct-met-city-health-care-fraud-20110217,0,5296982.story
If the spot is between Grand and Ohio, there is a history of accidents there.
40 million for a bottled neck bike path??
wtf does this bike path consist of??
Lets' see if I have this right.
1. police and fire pension obligations not met for years.
2.Property taxes going up.
3.schools in the toilet.
4. etc., etc., etc.,
but, 40 million for a bake path!!!!
Is it so the non-white urban dwellers can get to north michigan ave quicker?
Thank G-d I left the state years ago. I really feel sorry for the WORKING people of chicago.
Gotta get all those last minute "connected" contracts signed! Don't forget the break wall on the lake to stop a blizzard! Or the 31st street harbor.
And the city doesn't have any extra
money to fund the CTA so the CTA
has to stop hauling senior citizens
for free to save money.
And as an aside, gov. Flip-Flop
signed the bill to stop the transit
agencies from hauling the seniors
for free because the state can't give the agencies more money but he
plans to add 900 people to the
state payroll ? Something ain't
right. But, then again, mebbe if
we just juggle our priorities, yeah, that will work, cause come
election time all will be forgotten
and we can continue to fleece and
flim-flam the taxpayers.
I guess we pay more money so all the yuppies from Wilmette, Northbrook, Naperville can ride their bikes. How about a user tax on these people, and put those funds into our pension.
Let me get this straight. Shortshanks is gonna tell profit making airlines they don't know what they are doing. The same guy that ran the city out of money over the last 30 years. And the same guy that has a city with no money wants to immediately borrow 1billion dollars to build a runway. Hmmmmm, gotta get a contract signed quick, quick huh? The clock is ticking. Wants to rush it through like the meter deal. Good thing the airlines don't want to lose their money and actually try to lookout for their shareholders and employees.
But no money to hire or make detective or Sgt classes.
But everyone knows that we can't possibly pass up magic Federal dollars!
So what if we wind up paying double for everything we buy with them! So what if every dollar we get requires another one from us!
It's magic money we can't possibly pass up!
Meanwhile non-union City employees are taking a 10% pay cut and no raise from the second year in a row. Fuck this city.
Pay for play.
These PROJECTS are exactly why this city is drowning in DEBT!
(get off your bike, stop jogging and rollerblading and walk across the street, it worked fine for a hundred years)
I.P.Daily
As a cyclist (5,000+ miles in the city last year) let me say that this will be worth it. The bottleneck in the Lakefront Bike Path on the Lower LSD bridge is an accident generator. Tourists blithely stop and then step into the path of cyclists, and even if you're going walking speed, that's gonna hurt. Pedestrians walk four abreast on a sidewalk just about four asses wide, and cyclists respond by curb-hopping onto the street, where cars are going 45 mph. Bikes, pedestrians, segwayers all crossing Grand as cabs careen onto northbound LSD, or blow the light heading west on Grand. This thing, even if it's not as pretty as it could be (the sheet metal is for safety, to prevent jumpers/fallers--and making something both safe and pretty is always much more expensive) will be a huge improvement, for a fraction of the cost of most improvements aimed at cars (we'll spend way more than that $15 million on potholes after this winter, between repairs, payments and lawsuits).
I thought we were all BROKE? It's funny how they always find money laying around when they want it for crap nobody needs but when it comes to paying city workers and contributing to their pensions they always cry BROKE.
Upwards of 50 Million for what is essentially a fucking footbridge?
It's good to know the Democommiecrats have our best Interests in mind by building a track for fuckin Roller-Skaters, while the City and State goes deeper into bankruptcy, and the Taxpayers are the only ones expected to Sacrafice... Fuckin Communist City.
As a cyclist (5,000+ miles in the city last year) let me say that this will be worth it.
Right.The bike s that speed pass everyone like it s the tour d france and zizzag thru joggers.The path s are there for leisure rides.If this place had yr round warm weather i can understand the expense.The heavy use is good for about 4 mnths.U have bike lanes on elston,n/west hwy where there hardly used during the winter yet a hole ln of traffic was taken out.And I ve seen 1st hand most riders have total disregard for rule s of the road. Just drive down milwukee from 6-9 am.
Hey "Bill said" Fuck you! There are more important problems to address than a multi=million dollar bike path.
Hey Bill,
Get all your bicycle riders, roller bladers etc. to pay for the bridge and you can have it to yourselves while everyone else can walk in peace on the existing one. A user tax on bicyles and such comes to mind. Perhaps city sticker or plate, hhhhmmmm?
You mushes are dangerous to humans everywhere you are. You ignore traffic rules of the road, you endanger everyone around you and you stink from your nasty sweat when you finally get to work at that ferret box job of yours.
Is this thing paved in gold??? How the hell does a bike path cost that much?
Oh yea, I forgot, this is Chicago!
We just can't afford this right now!
How about a citywide contest (like the city sticker art contest) to come up with a less costly, yet equally effective, alternative.
Anonymous said...
I thought we were all BROKE? It's funny how they always find money laying around when they want it for crap nobody needs but when it comes to paying city workers and contributing to their pensions they always cry BROKE.
2/18/2011 12:04:00 PM
The Trucking/Construction branch of the Daley Crime Family MUST get their contracts signed before Godfather Daley leaves office.
"Ugly, ugly, ugly. Ugly as sin. Tens of millions of dollars worth of ugly."
--2/18/2011 12:19:00 AM
The theme is Correctional Moderne. It looks like a gun gallery for a state prison.
...and of course it's going to get vandalized, spray-painted from one end to the other. The trendies will call that "art."
Yawn.
2/18/2011 11:42:00 AM
uh, bill, you do realize that a clear path to the southern parts of that bike path for you also means a clear path for those who'll knock your ass off that bike of yours, steal it, and give you a boot to the side of your head as a way of saying 'thank you', don't you?
"Pedestrians walk four abreast on a sidewalk just about four asses wide...This thing, even if it's not as pretty as it could be (the sheet metal is for safety, to prevent jumpers/fallers--and making something both safe and pretty is always much more expensive) will be a huge improvement..."
--2/18/2011 11:42:00 AM
"Four asses wide."
Thanks.
Just enough disdain came through there to suddenly make me understand why the thing is blanked off with corrugated metal.
If you could see anything from it, the bridge would naturally be full of sightseers, tourists, people with cameras, and other lower beings standing "four asses wide" -- slowing up the "ON YOUR LEFT! ON YOUR RIGHT!" crowd.
Gotcha.
In return for that insight, here's a genuine revelation.
Shouting at people from behind is not a "courtesy" to the hearing-impaired.
All I'll say is that I don't ride that way. I don't care how much Campy -- you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Amateurs.
Fuck our pension, pour some cement.
The supporters of this will elect our next mayor, the pretty dancer. Why not ANOV bikers during the heaviest foot traffic times. Make bikers walk their bikes through this area. If you bike there you know it's not safe. We are broke and we are allow this for someone to log their 5,000's mile. Know wonder this country is going in the toliet.
Fuck our pension, pour some cement.
2/18/2011 07:58:00 PM
gladly.
now, please step into the bucket.
Chalkie
How about a citywide contest (like the city sticker art contest) to come up with a less costly, yet equally effective, alternative.
2/18/2011 05:44:00 PM
all cyclists are to wear water wings when traveling the Lake Shore Bike Path.
Bill said...
As a cyclist (5,000+ miles in the city last year) let me say that this will be worth it. The bottleneck in the Lakefront Bike Path on the Lower LSD bridge is an accident generator. Tourists blithely stop and then step into the path of cyclists, and even if you're going walking speed, that's gonna hurt. Pedestrians walk four abreast on a sidewalk just about four asses wide, and cyclists respond by curb-hopping onto the street, where cars are going 45 mph. Bikes, pedestrians, segwayers all crossing Grand as cabs careen onto northbound LSD, or blow the light heading west on Grand. This thing, even if it's not as pretty as it could be (the sheet metal is for safety, to prevent jumpers/fallers--and making something both safe and pretty is always much more expensive) will be a huge improvement, for a fraction of the cost of most improvements aimed at cars (we'll spend way more than that $15 million on potholes after this winter, between repairs, payments and lawsuits).
2/18/2011 11:42:00 AM
As a Police Officer (11 years on the job and 38 years in the city last year) let me say that the city meeting it's obligations of funding my pension properly will be well worth it. Oh wait, that's right, they're BROKE! aren't they? Oh no, they're only broke when it suits them. We definitely have 45 million dollars laying around for a bike path but we'll need more greedy union employees to take some more unpaid furlough days, depelte the police ranks further, and REFORM (steal) their hard earned pension money.
Bill,
I know what you are saying and agree with you. I think you could have added the fact that this city wastes so much money on crap, that something like this will actually be beneficial. Navy Pier is the city's biggest tourist attraction and the street access to it is not only dangerous/congested but pretty run down looking. A project like this will improve the city if done correctly. And keep tourists spending money here.
As a cyclist (5,000+ miles in the city last year) let me say that this will be worth it.
Poor Baby!!!
Get yourself an exercise bike and you
can peddle your ass off in your apt. while watching the OWN (Oprah Weighs Nine hundred pounds) channel.
Yeah that's what we need another walk and bike trail, hey lets line it with planters.
Wake the F*%k up people, no money for pensions, we are broke, everyone has to suffer, but wait... we have millions for a bike path.? Are you kidding me!!
Well, now the truth is out, it's not as bad as the media and politicians pretend.
I'll do it for half that.
Bill said...
As a cyclist (5,000+ miles in the city last year) let me say that this will be worth it
...............................
the city is broke ,the govt is almost broke. you want them to spend 45 mill. for a bike path.
in a word you are an asshat. slow down,give the right of way and we won't need to waste that money.
also layoff the spandex.
,and lay off the spandex.
Amen on that spandex. Ah Jaysus.
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