Michadichu: Most pumping houses in state not in good condition.

[motz]

It is wasteful to pay for any pump upgrades until they pumps can pay for themselves.

How come those lazy pumps can't pull themselves up by their bootstraps? Always waiting around for a handout from Big Brother Obama... If they worked hard, they would Succeed!!!

[jt1]

How come those lazy pumps can't pull themselves up by their bootstraps? Always waiting around for a handout from Big Brother Obama... If they worked hard, they would Succeed!!!

Reagan said all the pumps drive Caddys and have cable TV.

[Mark Smiles]

I bet these pumps were maintained by a union crew that never missed a paid break. Odds are taxpayers were charged several time over to pay new pumps, but the money never got past all the corruption.

They have more than enough money but choose to waste it. They are in your face with their waste. New lights at 16 and Mound? Why the old ones were not stopping traffic? Right.

More waste examples, how about signs saying "Big Beaver Road Next Intersection"? Why have a sign twice as wide as the old ones? Simple, they have the money to waste.

Next time you hear someone say they need more money for roads or road pumps, just look at all the signs that say "Next Intersection", and ask your self, "if they are wasting money, do they really need more?"

[Cliffy]

I bet these pumps were maintained by a union crew that never missed a paid break. Odds are taxpayers were charged several time over to pay new pumps, but the money never got past all the corruption.

They have more than enough money but choose to waste it. They are in your face with their waste. New lights at 16 and Mound? Why the old ones were not stopping traffic? Right.

More waste examples, how about signs saying "Big Beaver Road Next Intersection"? Why have a sign twice as wide as the old ones? Simple, they have the money to waste.

Next time you hear someone say they need more money for roads or road pumps, just look at all the signs that say "Next Intersection", and ask your self, "if they are wasting money, do they really need more?"

Yup and there you go. Welcome to 1855. Person has no understanding about anything but decides to prove to the world how stupid he is by posting absolute nonsense. Why even post any signs or time traffic lights or even have roads. Fuck it. Horses and guns.

[Wesley Mouch]

Yup and there you go. Welcome to 1855. Person has no understanding about anything but decides to prove to the world how stupid he is by posting absolute nonsense. Why even post any signs or time traffic lights or even have roads. Fuck it. Horses and guns.

I agree with you that its not helpful to assign union failings to every problem. But that does not change that unions are failing us, as a society.

I respect the need to improve conditions of the working person -- but the way we're doing it leads to corruption, protection of weak workers, inability to change work practices, and did I say corruption -- well yes, so let me clarify that... corruption of the equitable social management of civic finances. Schools boards comprised of those hand-picked by labor and then promoted by sometime mandatory dues [[sometimes fees of same amount) so they can agree to binding labor contracts for their supporters. We can rightly criticize crony capitalism. But we also should criticize crony laborism.

So back to MDOT -- I don't see a union problem here. In fact I don't really see a problem here. MDOT's reported on the problem. They should next state a plan for addressing it. Good job, you evil road-builders.

[Cliffy]

I agree with you that its not helpful to assign union failings to every problem. But that does not change that unions are failing us, as a society.

I respect the need to improve conditions of the working person -- but the way we're doing it leads to corruption, protection of weak workers, inability to change work practices, and did I say corruption -- well yes, so let me clarify that... corruption of the equitable social management of civic finances. Schools boards comprised of those hand-picked by labor and then promoted by sometime mandatory dues [[sometimes fees of same amount) so they can agree to binding labor contracts for their supporters. We can rightly criticize crony capitalism. But we also should criticize crony laborism.

So back to MDOT -- I don't see a union problem here. In fact I don't really see a problem here. MDOT's reported on the problem. They should next state a plan for addressing it. Good job, you evil road-builders.

What does upgrading traffic signals to improve traffic with sensors and replacing signs on the freeway that have little stickers on the back that are REQUIRED to be replaced every 10 years because they lose reflectivity. I don't understand what the unions have to do with this. I mean do unions have anything to do when you have a winter coat for x amount of years and it starts to get holes in it and you have to replace it. I hate when people post stuff that is so stupid and they think they are finding waste when all they are doing is creating self waste on a thread.

[nain rouge]

It's so sad that the spin masters have gotten so many people in the US to blame unions for all of our problems, when in fact the are much bigger, more serious problems. But no, let's hack away at the people trying to earn a decent living. Genius.

Fact is, we have too much infrastructure relative to the population, and to try and maintain it properly would require extreme diligence and focus from our politicians. But, of course, we know from past experience - OUR SHOULD - that neither party is capable of that. They want to pump money into stadiums, tourism ads, and other vanity projects when we don't have it.

BUT STILL, you're going to vote Democratic or Republican and continue to complain about how screwed up the government is. Because you'll only vote for the people with shiny ads.

[Jimaz]

It's so sad that the spin masters have gotten so many people in the US to blame unions for all of our problems, when in fact the are much bigger, more serious problems. But no, let's hack away at the people trying to earn a decent living. Genius....

I suspect that dead horse is going to continue to be beaten long after the corpse has decayed.

[Mark Smiles]

Yup and there you go. Welcome to 1855. Person has no understanding about anything but decides to prove to the world how stupid he is by posting absolute nonsense. Why even post any signs or time traffic lights or even have roads. Fuck it. Horses and guns.

You are a delusional fool, if you can not see MDOT wasting money at the same time they claim not to have enough.

Before you start calling me stupid, think about what you saying, on second thought forget it, as that would require a tiny amount of intelligence.

I stand by my comments, when you look at all the signs being replaced with bigger ones, and all the functional lights [[poles, cables etc.) being replaced, even though they still have a useful life left in them, you still have a very sizable chunk of change.

You may think it is nonsense to complain about wasteful spending by an organization that claims to not have enough funding, but you are wrong.

[7miledog]

Mark Smiles says: "You are a delusional fool, if you can not see MDOT wasting money at the same time they claim not to have enough."

Actually, it's the legislature wasting the money when it appropriates funds by line item to be used for that purpose only. If you don't like the next intersection signs, call your legislator. Oh but wait, they're rethuglicans, so it must be MDOT's fault.

[RO_Resident]

You are a delusional fool, if you can not see MDOT wasting money at the same time they claim not to have enough.

Before you start calling me stupid, think about what you saying, on second thought forget it, as that would require a tiny amount of intelligence.

I stand by my comments, when you look at all the signs being replaced with bigger ones, and all the functional lights [[poles, cables etc.) being replaced, even though they still have a useful life left in them, you still have a very sizable chunk of change.

You may think it is nonsense to complain about wasteful spending by an organization that claims to not have enough funding, but you are wrong.

A few things--

As mentioned above, signs have a finite life span: the reflective sheeting wears out, they get knocked over.

The national standards [[aka the MUTCD) for sign retroreflectivity recently updated. There are several ways that communities can check the reflectivity of their signs, such as using a light meter; using trained spotters; blanket replacement after x number of years; etc.

Finally, signs are meant to be seen. Seems obvious. With an aging population, there is an effort to make signs easier to see and interpret. MDOT is moving to Clearview font on freeway signs. Signs are required to be mixed case for easier reading. And, there is an effort to make guideway signs [[just like the 'Big Beaver Next Right') larger and easier to read.

That's not to say there is no waste or that the MUTCD is perfect. Woodward in Royal Oak was resigned a year ago. The duplicate signs were up for a good 4 months.