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Rendell Apologizes For Interstate 78 Fiasco
CBS 3 PHILADELPHIA ^ | 17 FEBRUARY 2007 | AP

Posted on 02/17/2007 7:43:22 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist

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To: JOHANNES801

See there. The DOT is underfunded and understaffed.


21 posted on 02/17/2007 8:02:40 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
Hey! Where's my apology? I was stuck on I-380 for 7 hours a few years back with my wife, my kids who were little and my dog. Two trucks decided that driving like bats out of hell in a major snowstorm would create some excitement and it did. They collided and no one could get around the wreck. The snow and wind kept on a pounding. The exit ramp to Mt Pocono and shelter was 100 yards behind us, but do you think they'd allow the 30 or so cars to back up and get off? Nope.

We had to go to the bathroom in a plastic bin and dump it out the door. Had to take the dog into the drifts.

Finally after 7 hours, they let us move, but by that time the snow was so deep, there was only one path two follow, I only had a lowly Sable wagon (now I'm a rich Republican with an evil SUV that'll go through any snowstorm easily) and it was getting close to dark. So, I went up the entrance ramp to get to some shelter and the PA Trooper told me to go back down. I tried to explain I had little kids and had to find a place for the night, but he made me turn around, even in my duress (oh well). We ended up going one exit, but that ended up being the army depot and I could not find anywhere to stay and almost went off the country road.

So we doubled back to Mt Pocono, looked quite a while for a place to stay and could not find any motels. Was about to park and spend the blizzard night in between some trucks at a KMart but figured to give one more try. The kids and the wife were crying.

Just before dark I turned off the main drag and low and behold we saw a light and followed it. It ended up being the Mt Pocono Inn and they were our saviors.

The road remained closed until the following afternoon. And I never got an apology from the PA Governor!

22 posted on 02/17/2007 8:04:20 AM PST by b4its2late (Liberalism is a hollow log and a mental disorder.)
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To: Spok
I was talking with a PA firefighter friend of mine.

It used to be the case that the first responders on the scene would assess the situation, the highest ranking responder on the scene would issue orders, and stuff would happen

Now they have to wait for the guy from PEMA (the PA version of FEMA) to arrive with his binders full of forms and procedures, and get approvals and coordination from all sorts of bureaucrats.

The problem is NOT, as Rendell asserts, that there was a "breakdown in communications among state agencies". The problem was that the Rendell Administration REQUIRED so much communication among state agencies in order for any action to be taken.

The way things should have worked (and they way things used to work) would have been:

First trooper on scene to dispatcher: "I-78 is blocked by tractor trailer. Road conditions are becoming impassible. I recommend closing the road"

Dispatcher: "All units - start closing on-ramps to I-78 between XXX and YYY"


23 posted on 02/17/2007 8:04:31 AM PST by SauronOfMordor (Never try to teach a pig to sing -- it wastes your time and it annoys the pig)
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To: Moonman62

Those that depend on Penn DOT, for the most part, are taxpayers. Screw them!! Gotta take care of the parasite class first. Votes, ya know?


24 posted on 02/17/2007 8:05:03 AM PST by Roccus (Able Danger??? What's an Able Danger????)
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To: SauronOfMordor

Not only I 78 but I 80 and I 81 are still closed.


25 posted on 02/17/2007 8:07:12 AM PST by JOHANNES801 (I have no tag line, cause I say nasty things.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Obviously God wants PA to be a chocolate state.


26 posted on 02/17/2007 8:08:47 AM PST by DogBarkTree (The United States failure to act against Iran will be seen as weakness throughout the Muslim world.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

It's a quagmire! I heard that Murtha's demanding that the National Guard be redeployed to Okinawa!

Mark


27 posted on 02/17/2007 8:09:09 AM PST by MarkL (When Kaylee says "No power in the `verse can stop me," it's cute. When River says it, it's scary!)
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To: Roccus

Didn't bother me too much.I live up in the woods,got a shotgun,rifle and a four wheel drive.


28 posted on 02/17/2007 8:09:19 AM PST by JOHANNES801 (I have no tag line, cause I say nasty things.)
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To: DogBarkTree

Philly and harrisburg are already.


29 posted on 02/17/2007 8:10:20 AM PST by JOHANNES801 (I have no tag line, cause I say nasty things.)
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To: mpreston

Post #5 well said, totally nailed it.


30 posted on 02/17/2007 8:10:51 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Good night Chesty, wherever you are!)
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To: mpreston
A little ice and snow and the state is apologizing.

It wasn't a little ice and snow. It was 4-6 inches of sleet - which has the water equivalent of 2-3 feet of snow. And that sleet is like driving on millions of tiny ball bearings - and then it froze solid overnight Wednesday. So there is good reason why people had trouble navigating those conditions. The real problem is that the storm was long gone (it was over about 11 AM Wednesday), so people probably thought it was OK to get out - but authorities did nothing to broadcast to the public to stay off those roads, nor did they close the on-ramps.

31 posted on 02/17/2007 8:11:27 AM PST by dirtboy (Duncan Hunter 08)
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To: Ken522

No image, but:

"Interstate 78, which runs east and west, is closed in both directions between Exit 8 (for Route 22 to Fredericksburg) and Exit 49 (for Route 100 to Fogelsville, just west of Allentown). Interstate 81, which runs roughly north and south, is closed in both directions between Exit 85 (Route 943, Fort Indiantown Gap, near where it meets Interstate 78) and Exit 165 (Rt. 309 to Wilkes-Barre.)

Interstate 80, one of the two expressways that cross the state east to west, is closed eastbound between Exit 241 (Route 11, Lime Ridge) and its junction with Interstate 81 near Hazleton. The road is closed westbound between Exit 304 (Route 209 to Snydersville, just west of Stroudsburg) and the intersection with Interstate 81."


32 posted on 02/17/2007 8:12:20 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Except that it doesn't. See my post #31. I live just to the east of the area that got the worst of the sleet storm - it extends from Reading up into the Poconos.


33 posted on 02/17/2007 8:12:26 AM PST by dirtboy (Duncan Hunter 08)
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To: Ken522

34 posted on 02/17/2007 8:17:41 AM PST by dirtboy (Duncan Hunter 08)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I used to live right off of I-78, and there have been MUCH worse storms in the past without a problem. This is a total disgrace and all involved should be ashamed. Especially that POS governor. But the sheeple will still vote for him, at least the city folk will, since they are the beneficiaries of all the Taxes.


35 posted on 02/17/2007 8:18:59 AM PST by SengirV
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
The truckers told us that 80 was the twilight zone.We were stuck there for 8 hours one year.Made it to a hotel, might have been Mt Pocono.Started back on the road the next day.
36 posted on 02/17/2007 8:22:16 AM PST by fatima
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To: Tribune7
I live in Pennsylvania. The roads are terrible. Snow removal is inadequate and spotty at best. The news shows always make a big thing out of showing PennDot getting ready for bad weather. The road in Chester County Pa runs right into Maryland. You will drive that road in Pennsylvania and go over the state line and see the stark difference in road management in storms. It is like night and day. Maryland knows how to deal with a storm. Pennsylvania is known for just this type of thing. Incompetent PennDot. God forbid any snow storm comes on a weekend. Our township plows the state roads because PennDot is lousy at keeping them open.

Fast Eddie Rendell will boost the sales tax from 6% to 7%. He intends to bump the tobacco tax up. The gas tax is already higher than Maryland and NJ. He now has the Democrat legislature to raise taxes on whatever he wants.

37 posted on 02/17/2007 8:24:06 AM PST by oldironsides
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Pennsylvania is falling apart under DemocRAT rule. Hopefully, voters in PA will learn the lesson.


38 posted on 02/17/2007 8:29:01 AM PST by advance_copy (Stand for life, or nothing at all)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

You mean the rats blew it BIG TIME in their response to a weather-related natural disaster?
I hope the Republicans drag Rendell and the rats through the mud for the next two years.


39 posted on 02/17/2007 8:40:13 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Welcome to the new Democrat majority.


40 posted on 02/17/2007 8:41:04 AM PST by sportutegrl (This thread is useless without pix.)
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