Fast construction!

A local “news” station featured the proud announcement that the North-South Corridor bypass is nearly done! Well, almost nearly. It started construction in 2000, and plans to be done by 2030.

The bypass was needed from 1946 to 2000. The huge Kaiser Aluminum plant in Mead employed thousands, and there wasn’t a highway leading to it. The employees had to take city streets and country roads. Kaiser went bankrupt around 2000 and then the EPA closed the plant entirely. The highway began its planning process in the ’50s when it was needed. By the time construction actually started, it was no longer needed. Nevertheless, in typical federal style, the construction continued with frequent pauses for EPA and “Indigenous” lawsuits.

At this point the North-South Corridor is partly completed, carrying almost as much traffic as an ordinary street. It’s been stuck in this condition for many years.

Here’s a snapshot of the Corridor today:

And I-90 at the same moment for comparison:

From my 2010 blog item on the highway:

= = = = = START REPRINT:

The “North-South Corridor” [NSC] was planned in the early 1950s, at a time when Kaiser Aluminum and Boeing were running full force in the suburb of Mead. Thousands of workers drove each day along a couple of narrow two-lane roads from Spokane to Mead, so a north-south highway made good sense in 1955. When the government-sponsored terrorist organization EPA slaughtered America’s metal industries, Kaiser’s Mead plant was closed and Boeing later downsized as well. So the highway was completely unnecessary. THEREFORE it was finally started around 2000, using proper Federal logic.

Part of it was finished last year, and it’s already carrying a massive load of traffic:

Now a new obstacle, or more precisely a new excuse to feed the EPA Terrorist Army more trillions in blackmail tribute, has been “discovered”. There’s a gallon or two of leftover oil under the next section of proposed construction. THEREFORE we must build a 30-foot-high viaduct for several miles to stay over the few gallons of oil.

This makes sense if you’re a dying empire. It wouldn’t make sense for anything with the reasoning ability of a bacterium.

= = = = = END REPRINT.

Before the EPA Terrorist Army started its actions we could build things. During the years that I lived in Manhattan and Bowling Green, each city built a bypass of similar length, and each took about 3 years to complete.