Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Maryland's bridge is falling down

If you were trying to get onto I-70 West on Friday evening, as Ken was after speaking up in Harford County, you were probably wondering why it was shut down.

It turns out that the State Highway Administration (SHA) had to close I-70 where it connects to the Baltimore Beltway so they could conduct emergency bridge repairs.

This is what happens when your Governor and Lieutenant Governor and the one-party legislature they command systematically raid the Transportation Trust fund to pay for their out-of-control spending.

They got the calculations wrong, and the bridge fell down (or it was about to).

Won’t you help Ken and me to bring some honesty to your state government?

Thankfully, the SHA caught this problem just in time, and I-70 opened again this morning.

But who knows how many other bridges and overpasses need urgent repairs that O’Malley and Brown failed to build into the budget?

A Lollar-Timmerman administration will make sure scheduled maintenance is done on time, not at the last possible minute.

Your Lieutenant Governor, Ken Timmerman, will be auditing the Transportation Trust Fund to make sure that your tax dollars are spent wisely on their intended purpose, and not frittered away recklessly on billion dollar boondoggles like the Purple Line that benefit small numbers of Marylanders and harm the rest.

But for these things to happen, we need your help now so we can be well equipped to win the June 24 Republican primary.

Don’t you agree that it’s time for some honesty and straight talk in Annapolis?

Yours in freedom,
Charles Lollar

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

OweMalley first raided that transportation fund within the first 60 days of his administration. Ever since then I have been crossing my fingers every time I cross one of Maryland's bridges.

This is what you get with a one party state. For those who don't care about politics I have a question. Are you happy going over bridges that might need repair? And that's only one issue.

Jim said...

Politicians get little credit for repairs only new stuff.

Anonymous said...

Think that's a problem? I'm an ironworker who works on the bay bridge.there are places all over the bridge I can push my hand through the steel. Rust and corrosion have eaten most of the vertical structural columns. I feel sick just going to work and will not Allow my family to drive across. The old span is In a very dangerous State with the state of Maryland Caring more about revenue then the safety of its people.

Anonymous said...

They raised the gas taxes ten years ago to complete repairs to roads throughout the state.
What happened to the money??

Anonymous said...

1:10 - the Governor stole it to balance his budget. His Lt. Governor didn't even try to stop him. Now the Lt. Governor wants a promotion...to do the same thing again.

Vote for a Republican this time....PLEASE!

Anonymous said...

1:10 I'll answer your question. They spent it on entitlements. I would allege that some politicians even got kickbacks but I couldn't prove that.

As for 1:01 I cross that bridge regularly and I am terrified. Your statement has really alarmed me.

Anonymous said...

Joe, this is alarming. Is there any way you can verify how safe the Bay Bridge or any bridge in Maryland for that matter is.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Oh My Lord.. Push your hand right through a vertical steel beam. Everybody must stop driving over the bridge immediately ...

Anonymous said...

2:09 I can't believe you are even making fun of this allegation.

Let's be clear. Given enough RUST which is what he was talking about, you could push your hand through a vertical beam.

Are you daft? Some sort of sociopath? Or just some stupid troll paid by the democratic party to try to make people feel foolish.

Idiot.

Anonymous said...

Nope . I'm the stupid idiot that repairs the Bridge. Years of neglecting the proper preservation of the bridge has is causing it to fail in places. Some of the ribbots have turned to dust. Lack of anti rust chems and proper blasting. Not to mention lack of proper painting is causing it to fail. Ask any jeep owner on the shore what happens to their frames after 8-10 yrs of beach use does. Your an idiot to think steel lasts forever.

Anonymous said...

@1:01

Being an iron worker doesn't make you an engineer. The amount of structure redundancy in that bridge is almost ridicules.

One must remember that the south span of the Bay Bridge was built during the era of the slide rule and the mechanical adding machine.

By today's engineering standards it is over engineered to accommodate the loads it carries.

Sand Box John

Anonymous said...

Nope not an engineer. after 40yrs of structural steel work, from new to restorations, I know what happens to steel from neglect.and the Bridge is in fact major jeopardy. Your most likely the guy who went to school Designs says it can or can't be done then shows up with a man purse inspecting work and has never touched a tape measure. Experience is talking right now. Believe what you want.