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General discussion

Idiot CT DOT :(

Dec 5, 2003 11:46PM PST

Hi All,

Well ... just came in from shoveling the driveway ... fun fun fun!

Hubby and I went out yesterday before the snow began to fall. It's not like the state wasn't expecting it -- it's been all over the news -- and the storm was tracking pretty predictably hitting NY & LI first. It's not like it was 60 degrees and the temps plunged to the 20's either, it was below freezing all day.

Soooooooooo ... You'ld THINK the sand/salt trucks would get a jump on it no? Nope!

By the time we got out of the store, there was a light coat on the ground -- maybe 1/2". Sat behind an accident about 2 mi. from home for about 10 min before deciding on another route. Sure enough after passing two more accidents on the highway and main roads, we crawled along. Well, half hour later we came upon a road block for the alternate route and had to go alternate three! Almost sat behind another accident but that one had been partially cleared by the time we reached it. Took us an hour to get home for a drive that normally takes 10 minutes SadSadSad and there wasn't even 1" of snow yet.

I guess they are saving the sand? The kicker was we didn't even SEE a plow/sand truck the entire time.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Evie Happy

Discussion is locked

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To repeat from another post -- I was talking about Friday Rush Hour!!
Dec 7, 2003 10:43PM PST

My hubby and I happened to go out when we had an opportunity so that we wouldn't have to go out in the snow. I'm guessing most of the cars on the road were just trying to get home from work.

I'm sure the folks who spent the weekend trying to figure out how . I'm also sure that all those folks who work jobs that don't conform to the M-F 9-5 schedule are happy to know that you rank certain non-essential government programs to improve their overall quality of life vs. safe roads for them to get to work. Sheesh. I don't know where you live, but most people DO need to go places on the weekend, whether that be to work or some other activity like a kid's school or activity, food shopping, laundry, or heck, even for recreation! At those wonderful parks perhaps??

Evie Happy

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Re: I was talking about Friday Rush Hour!! -- Sorry I misread.
Dec 8, 2003 8:54PM PST

Hi, Evie.

The point about the weekend is it's lots more expensive because overtime must be paid, and there is lots less traffic on the road...
-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

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And even so ....
Dec 8, 2003 9:08PM PST

... there is no need for overtime to be paid unless 40 hours has been exceeded. Sorry, Dave, the majority of workers in our area are employed in jobs where they don't get a premium in pay for working Saturdays or Sundays, and that includes my husband. You haven't driven in CT much I guess, because while the roads are more traveled during rush hours during the week, the interstate truck traffic knows no days of the week, in the summer you have a ton of beach going tourism, in fall it's foliage, skiing in the winter. The casino traffic galore also knows no days of the week. There's no excuse to not adequately prepare the roads in this instance. Our treasury takes in close to 12 Billion a year. Providing safe roads in a state where public transportation is limited to a few municipalities and the vast majority of residents MUST travel by car is a huge priority for everyone who lives here.

Evie Happy

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When you live in CT ...
Dec 8, 2003 7:43PM PST

... then you can prioritize how important you think plowing/sanding are. We were lucky that my hubby got out of work early on Friday, and didn't work on the weekend. You live in la la land Dave if you think there aren't a LOT of people who NEED to be on the roads on the weekend. Yeah, if it came to cuts in park facilities vs. road maintenance, I'ld have to pick the roads, and I'm guessing lots of other people who actually live in the real world in the Northeast would agree. Has it really been that long since you went to school in Boston? And are you oblivious to the fact that the largest employers in my state are the casinos open 24/7 and staffed by residents who don't live on the reservations? Does the state of TX really shut down on the weekends? I'm thinking not, and I'm thinking that the retailers in your state and their employees who were due in to work would be a bit more than peeved if your state got snow and those in charge had your attitude regarding the "need" to use the roads on the weekend!

As for what programs I consider non-essential, there's no need to list them. Providing driveable roads is just up there on the list of the responsibility of government. Public roads, infrastructure and all that.

Evie Happy

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(NT) Message has been deleted.
Dec 6, 2003 11:38PM PST
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Re:
Dec 7, 2003 4:58AM PST

Hi, Evie.

>>My state has plenty of money, if there are budget shortfalls in our DOT it is because too much money is wasted elsewhere.<<
Like on health services for the poor, perhaps? Of course, if the drugs didn't cost so much, there'd be more money left over for plowing roads on the weekend.
-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

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(NT) Message has been deleted.
Dec 6, 2003 10:35PM PST
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duplicate
Dec 7, 2003 12:13AM PST

.

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Enjoy :>)
Dec 7, 2003 4:37AM PST

Chicago missed the whole thing! I think we are turning into a tropical area. Must be global warming. We need to cool things down some more.

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Re: Idiot CT DOT :( -- There's that double standard again...
Dec 7, 2003 4:54AM PST

Hi, Evie.

Well, it was the weekend -- imagine the howls about tax increases to fund state employee overtime if they'd been called out... IMCO, folks who are always complaining about taxes being too high don't really have a right to complain when government services aren't up to the ideal... -- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

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What's the problem Dave? Your Faux News gig didn't catch on?
Dec 7, 2003 10:37PM PST

Knock off this crap please, because you can't even begin to back up a double standard charge on this one. I'm not an anarchist, I AM for small government, and road mainenance is surely well within the realm of where state and local governments SHOULD be spending tax dollars. I have NEVER b!tched at the use of tax dollars for the essential services that DO indeed benefit us all.

If this were a service provided by private contractors, there would be liablity suits galore over this obvious inadequate service. The accidents I witnessed were clearly avoidable as there wasn't even enough downfall to obscure visibility, and most appeared to be cars that slid off the road. With the new "crumple zone" construction of vehicles, I can tell you from experience that it doesn't take a big impact to cause a lot of damage. There were at least 6 cars we saw in this short span that would have required towing and/or significant work Sad That's six families who will be coughing up their $500 or more deductible just before Christmas, needing a replacement vehicle, and likely not being able to make it to work on Monday. All of which could have been avoided if our government provided a reasonable level of service.

And BTW, we weren't talking about the weekend, I was talking about rush hour FRIDAY for a storm that started to reach southern portions of I95 by 1pm that day. It may also come as a shock to you Dave, but there are a whole slew of private sector employees out there that get no premium for working on the weekend as a matter of routine -- my husband being one of them. I don't know why you should expect plow drivers to be paid some sort of premium to do the same! In general, CT'ers have no problem with OT pay for plow drivers when they have to work through the night, etc. We DO have a problem when the trucks either aren't out, are driving around w/o salting or plowing, or are drinking coffee and eating donuts in truck caravans idling on the side of the road. Haven't seen that last one in a while but it was a frequent site several years ago.

Our state and local governments are not underfunded. My property taxes went up 10% last year alone. They've increased 60% in the last decade. My state takes in close to 12 BILLION in tax revenues to service a population of about 3.5 million. Don't tell me that's not enough!

Evie Happy

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Did you get any snow?
Dec 7, 2003 2:37PM PST

We had about 5-6 inches here over a two day period, nothing from the Nor'easter.

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Yep!
Dec 7, 2003 10:55PM PST

Although I can only put it in terms of driveway accumulations as that is the meaningful amount to me LOL

We live in a bit of a wind tunnel so it's always anyone's guess if the snow will accumulate in drifts or not. We had about 6" Sat morning from Friday's storm, and about a foot yesterday from Saturday's storm. At first it looked like most of Saturday's snow was blowing right off the driveway, but I guess the wind must have died down. Add about 3' dumped by the plow at the end of the driveway! At least it was fairly light snow.

And Dave, you'll be happy to know that the plows and sand provided clear roads by noon on Sunday -- so it's not really a weekend issue after all huh? It's a matter of very poor planning and management of resources.

Evie Happy

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Nope!
Dec 8, 2003 2:25PM PST

We got rain. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around - rain on the coasts and snow on the prairies?