I-35E closed in St. Paul after part of bridge falls, hits vehicle

[question everything]

StarTribune.com
I-35E closed in St. Paul after part of bridge falls, hits vehicle

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

July 26, 2008

A freeway in the east metro was shut down for several hours Saturday after at least two large pieces of concrete fell from an overpass onto the road and struck a vehicle. No one was hurt, said Kent Barnard, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The pieces of concrete, which were about 2 feet wide and 1 foot thick, fell from the bottom of the Maryland Avenue overpass and covered the northbound lanes of Interstate 35E with debris, said Peter Panos, a spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department.

The State Patrol closed the freeway in both directions shortly after the incident at 4:45 p.m. Traffic was rerouted onto exit ramps to get around the overpass, said Tony Fischer, spokesman for the Regional Transportation Management Center. Traffic on Maryland Avenue also was rerouted, Panos said.

(snip)

http://www.startribune.com/local/25944839.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:1

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When I first heard about it at the 6:00 news, whoever was on the phone said that that bridge, like every single bridge in the state, was inspected last year..

Scary.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. And this is what happens when our state's governor

is living in the pants of the Taxpayer's League (that is, when he's not living in John McCain's pants, hoping desperately to be his VP choice) and vetoing every attempt by the legislature to fund the DoT adequately enough to actually FIX shit. If McCain does pick Timmy the Tool, I hope the Dems shove these collapsing bridges right up his ass.

[Pierre.Suave]

6. How about we start with the piece of concrete that fell today

followed by all the steel and concrete that fell last year.


:mad:

[Deja Q]

11. Aaaah... so it does boil down to money as the core issue...

If the Republicans had any sense, they'd replace Presumptive candidate McCain with somebody else. But now I'm being presuming things...

Indeed. We're all told government is crap and corporations are better. I mentioned a moment ago, if that's what everyone thinks, where are the corporations fixing up government's mess? (And it's ironic those in government who say it's garbage seem to be doing nothing to reverse that trend...)

[dpbrown]

2. Welcome to the Land of Paw-lenty!

As long as the billionaires are happy, just smile and stay in your place.

[question everything]

3. Scary to think that if he is McCain running mate, many Minnesotans will actually

vote for the ticket, to get the same goodies that the oil companies did with Bush and Cheney..

(my interpretation to the new poll results..)

[SomeGuyInEagan]

8. "Governor No"

Read the City Pages' piece:

http://www.citypages.com/2008-07-23/news/tim-pawlenty-governor-no

[Deja Q]

10. Veto-Man who prefers to wheel and deal for the Twins and Best Buy...

He's not doing much governing of Minnesota, I regret to say.

Will the people running MnDOT be reprimanded? Are enough funds coming in?

How does that tax holiday sound now? (pretty crappy...)

[annm4peace]

4. Next week, Anniversary of 35W bridge collaspe

how ironic. and gee.. the new bridge is almost done. I wonder how many Minnesotans will still take 10th St bridge.. I know I will

[Pierre.Suave]

5. My god, you have got to be kidding me...

Geez, we need to revolt in this damn country and take it back from these Fucking morons...

[loveable liberal]

7. french revolution style. nt

[Deja Q]

9. But at least the Twins haven't left under his watch.

Okay, why isn't MNDot being investigated? Who's running it? Shouldn't the 35W collapse have been enough to get somebody to leave?

If the bridge was inspected 11 months ago and given a 77 rating and qualified for funds, was nothing done to improve it? What was the basepoint between priorities of what gets fixed and what does not?

Entropy is inevitable. Please don't pretend it lasts forever and then claim 'fiscal responsibility' by cutting taxes and smiling in front of cameras.

Yes, I've seen other bridges proactively worked on -- but while everybody bashes government, where are corporations to show they're better (meaning if they say government is crap and they are better, where are they?)

[Pierre.Suave]

12. The corporations

are asking for government handouts of money...

[kickysnana]

13. I have heard of so may long time quality state employees who left when he was reelected.

Department of Natural Resources, Finance Department, Transpiration Department and more.

The Health Department gave a really good explanation of how all research and decisions are now CDC/FDA or politically dictated. They have no discretion in what is funded and what is not. They cannot solicit outside money for projects not funded nor lobby for projects to be funded. They have no power to enforce reporting requirements or much of anything else unless a state of emergency is declared.

They are a PR firm for Pawlenty and the big HMOs, Insurance, Pharmaceuticals and other medical companies.

Our race to the bottom has ended. We are there.