Stop blaming and start bridge work

8/12/07
People are scared to drive across bridges. In the wake of the tragedy in Minnesota, drivers across the country are crossing their fingers as they confront the nation’s decaying infrastructure.
It would be nice, then, to see state officials stop bickering and get to work doing something about it. With nearly a third of state bridges rated structurally deficient, constituents are expecting action.
Instead, they are treated to the sight of Gov. M. Jodi Rell and House Speaker James A. Amman trading insults over who cares more about protecting public safety.
“It is really a shame, in my opinion, that it takes a tragedy and a press conference to finally wake this governor up,” Amann said.
“It is shameful that Speaker Amann is throwing another political tantrum,” Rell’s spokesman responded.
Could they, just this once, give it a rest? There are hundreds of bridges in the state that need work, and it is guaranteed to be an expensive, time-consuming project. Scoring political points can wait.
Local drivers have good reason to want to see something happen. There are 151 bridges in Fairfield and New Haven counties rated structurally deficient. Of those, 37 bridges are considered “basically intolerable.” Ten of those bridges need to be replaced and 27 need repair, according to a state inventory.
The replacement of the Moses Wheeler Bridge carrying Interstate 95 over the Housatonic River is in the final planning stages; it’s a project that has been delayed too long. In a state that lived through the Mianus River collapse two decades ago, we know better than most the perils of inaction.
It may be that a design flaw in Minneapolis doomed that bridge from the start; wear and tear may have been a minor factor. But we can’t afford to take that chance with our bridges. Our leaders must come together on a sensible plan for repairing and replacing spans that pose a hazard. Once we get there, then we can start apportioning credit and blame.