Posted on 10/08/2012 10:41:15 AM PDT by Kid Shelleen
First time hearing those words? The little bumps under your feet are picking the city's pocket.
Truncated domes - also known as "tactile warning strips" - are those bumps the size of elevator call buttons that blister the surface of recently installed ramps at street corners, by order of the feds. The cost to the city - meaning you, the taxpayer - is astronomical.
The outlay is required by changing federal regulations, according to Terry Gillen, director of federal affairs for the city of Philadelphia. She is, in effect, the liaison to President Obama from Mayor Nutter, who has been a ferocious advocate for the president's re-election. --snip-- The cost of installing the now-mandated ramps at each of the city's 22,000 intersections will be $858 million,
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
It cost about $400 per ramp to install these. There are two types, a plastic sheet that is pressed onto the concrete (whcih can delaminate and need replacing) or a hi-strength, 1-inch thick pre cast insert, both cost about $200 per insert. These are mandated by the American with Disabilities Act and there is no way around it.
Each community must prepare an ADA assessment plan so I would encourage you to check with your city or county public works departments to determine how many of areas exist that need to be brought up to the ADA standard.
....because wheelchairs roll so well on bumps ? LOL
But according to the article: The cost of installing the now-mandated ramps at each of the city's 22,000 intersections will be $858 million,
858 million / 22,000 = $39,000 per intersection. Let's say eight ramps per intersection = $4,875 per ramp. That's a lot more than $400. $4,875 will pay for a lot of people to lean on their shovels during installation.
I understand your rage. Problem is that government feels it is their right to take people money and use it how they see fit. It is criminal.
Now just a minute . . . Sidewalk Bubbles IS in the Constitution . . . somewhere . . . over by the 1-gallon per flush, abortion, penumbra, and privacy stuff . . . really . . . I seen it there . . . !
Just wait until the new wheelchair regs come out for “suspension modifications”, which’ll cost us all untold billions.
Federally mandated electric wheelchair lifts for all public swimming pools.
The Obama administration had mandated them for all public swimming pools beginning March 15, 2012. After public swimming pools around the country announced that they would have to close because of the substantial cost of compliance, the mandate was postponed until January 31, 2013. It is purely a coincidence that the mandate will now kick in immediately after the election.
Just one more of the many economy killing regulations that we have to look forward to in a second term of the Obamanation.
Would someone tell me just how can the FEDERAL government can DICTATE to a CITY what kind of sidewalks they can and cannot have?.......................
We have those bumps in our new sidewalks, too............IN FLORIDA....................
Which is it — $400, or $4,000 per ramp? Shotgun’s estimate seems more reasonable. But, what’s reason got to do with it?
Is this a case of government spending run amok, or is it simply another example of the rampant innumeracy in the media?
Truth is new toilet design has improved the process such that no matter how much water you used in the older toilets, you won't get as reliable a result as you will with the newer toilets.
I changed all mine out about a year ago, and would not want to go back.
This is one case where government meddling has led to a better product.
Federal tax dollars for road construction. No money unless you do what they say.
Bump
Well, if our sidewalks EVER get coated in snow and ice, I’m glad that the grubbermint is looking out for my best interests...................
It’s for the visually impaired as well.
They are a hassle for me ‘cuz the GROCERY stores have had to put them in to denote where the street begins. This means my shopping card gets rattled REALLY hard going over the bumps. Have to be careful with your glass-bottled items.
My experience with those as an avid city walker is that they are slicker in rain, sleet, snow and ice.
The last time I walked in snow and ice I was in Germany. And as socialist as EU has become, they don’t have silly stuff on the sidewalks.........
400.00 per “ramp”for the single purchase on one bumpy plate ... Yah, know, we used to work realllll hard to make smooth sidewalks and REMOVE cobblestone streets ....
The 4,000.00 per ramp is to INSTALL (hire the bureaucrat(s) to run the program, hire the companies to install them, inspect the papers, inspect their EPA cert’s, inspect their paint and hazardous material documents, inspect their safety records, inspect their trash disposal, schedule the sidewalks and install their anti-mud barricades and pedestrian curbing/barricades, etc.), plus ripout the old concrete, lift it into trucks, ship it to a dump, get the new forms built, buy the new concrete, ship it in to the sidewalks, pour it, smooth it, graze it, install the bumps, paint it, remove the forms, clean up the debris, etc.
$4000.00 per ramp ain't bad when you consider how much it takes to “administrate” the programs that only buy a little bit of material.
They might want to get some non-union labor.
At the price tag listed, its $7,500 a ramp. I do cost estimates on these all the time, and its around $900 per ramp. If they have to tear out the old on, its around $1,500. With design, put it at $2,000 a ramp. Who knew, stuff costs too much in Philadelphia.
Now if you read the fine print, you may notice that it uses up 65% of a $20 million budget, every year...but will ultimately cost $858 million...or a 66 year build out. The way it works is the city must have a ramp ‘program’ in place, and commit to replacing a certain number every year. In return they are eligible for federal matching funds (read their own money after its been filtered through Washington) on a variety of street projects. So they burn through their maintenance funds, and in return get more capital improvement funds...which is sadly a recipe for alot of poorly maintained streets.
Some cities get creative. Utility work, street widening, etc. takes out alot of ramps...and they require the new ones to go in with the domes. This costs less than just picking random ramps about town for replacement, but they still get ‘credit’ for the replacement.
Sadly, the ramp mandates were spawned from one act, signed into law by George Bush, in 1990. The mandates can’t be stopped or controlled now. The federal beast has been unleashed...something we should always think about when an ‘well intentioned’ legislation goes on the books.
Anyway, Philly has the pefect storm of corrucpt labor, federal regulation, and an inability to plan/think creatively to reduce costs. I’m not surprised.
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