Walls of Jericho OK, Walls of Henry Hudson, Not Good!

By popular demand, I figured I'd weigh-in on yesterday's collapse of the retaining wall on the Henry Hudson Parkway (NY Route 9A) in the vicinity of the George Washington Bridge (I-95).

OY VEH! The old "If it ain't broke..." mentality really is the NYSDOT's prime directive. Yet their definition of "broke" and mine really do not match. The unsurprising collapse of a wall nearly 100 years-old is emblematic of a regional road and infrastructure system that is decades behind national construction codes (can 3 SUVs fit abreast on most segments of the FDR drive?), horrifically managed, and seriously strapped for cash.

Some fellow road geeks on Yahoo Group, [northeastroads] were quick to chime in:
Steve wrote:
> New York City's expressways and parkways were built
> long enough ago that much of the
> infrastructure has to be nearing or passing its
> useful life. There will soon be billions of
> dollars' worth of work like shoring up retaining
> walls and repairing roadbeds, etc.

There SOON WILL BE? When was the last time you drove
in NYC? I'd say there IS ALREADY billions of dollar's
worth of work waiting to be done ;-)"

Here Here!

Meanwhile, construction on the Long Island Expressway continues to press doggedly on. The pavement is smooth, the signage clear, the lanes consistent, the width wide -- work of a quality worlds away from the reckless Southies who brought us the Big Dig, the boys from Farmingdale must have a lot of local pride! Carry on!