Local organized labor, a big handful of politicians and at least one local Economic Developer have spent a lot of their time and the public's money promoting the I-98 fantasy.
But shouldn't they all be embracing the NYS Department of Transportation's decision to spend the "rooftop highway" planning money improving US Route 11?
After all, upgrading and updating Route 11 would create construction jobs now, while more study of the I-98 folley would do nothing more than enrich engineers and consultants and create no new jobs.
Of course, that would mean the I-98 backers would have to admit that their claim that the "four-lane highway has never been closer" is a lie.
It would be like Jim Hidy and I saying a nuclear plant has never been closer just because we started talking about it last year. The nuclear plant is not any closer because companies are not willing to jump into the process of building nuke plants due to fear over the current state of the energy business.
Economic development and organized labor are supposed to be promoting employment for union and non-union workers. That is exactly what the DOT is proposing.
If I-98 can't get funded with a Democrat in the governor's mansion, another in the White House, and Democrats in control of the US Senate with two NY Senators in that majority, when will it ever get funded?
Truth is, it won't get financial backing anytime in the next 20 years.
I give Jason Clark and his mythical Northern Corridor Transportation Group credit: they have built a Trojan horse based on public relations and insider Democratic Party politics. They have also created some rifts and cracks in the county Dem machine which at one point a few years back seemed poised to take full control of local, county and state politics in the North Country.
Patti Ritchie, Ken Blankenbush, a few new county legislators and some GOP victories in local races slowed that progression.
And the internal party fight over I-98 may cause the wheels to completely come off the Donkey Juggernaut that was created by Eliot Spitzer before he crashed and burned.
One would think it would be good politics to support job creation in these tough economic times, but the I-98 crowd doesn't seem capable of seeing the handwriting on the wall.
Their blind promotion of the fictitious "if we build it they will come" philosophy may be their further undoing as they continue down that road, or should I say Interstate Highway.
Too little common sense has been the norm on the I-98 subject.
ReplyDeleteListening to our Gov last Friday seems to me to seal the fate of I-98. I did not hear a syllable about it, but did hear lots about existing bridges and roads that need fixing, including many locales in the North Country.
I don't think even the intrepid engineers at District 7 DOT would have decided to spend the $6 million + on US 11 upgrades if the Commish and the Gov were not already onside.
The people that is not for I-98 does not see the benefits that it would bring to this area. It would help cut down on traffic in the villages. It would also help the economy in these county. Plus the way the DOT plans for route 11 would cause more accidents. updating route 11 is a good idea, but not the way they want to do it.
ReplyDeleteIf the so called I-98 money were used to widen I-11 and expand some of the road to 4 lanes, isn't this working towards making it happen. You look at the new route between I-81 and Fort Drum. They should continue to expand I-11 to 4 lanes up to Philadelphia to help commuters. If they expand the road between Canton and Potsdam to 4 lanes, look what we have accomplished. What do you say?
ReplyDelete1. Money being spent to improve I-11 now!
2. I-11 being expanded in areas that need it, with little disruption to the entire road.
3. Jobs for those companies that are struggling to keep people working.
4. An influx of money into the local economies.
5. Less road to deal with if or whenever I-98 happens.
Why are people so short sighted that they can not see the good that this will do. Stop throwing our money away and put it to good use.
Spot on joe, question why not take all the jobs as the are presented to the North Country. As to the Dem's once the Madem of Morley retired YukYuk the Dems have gone in the tank.
ReplyDeletethere has been no one I have talked to that is in favor of continuing I-98 investment. Most think it is a joke to spend time talking and having people spend money on the nightmare. Time to cut the cord or get out of the way and deal with the now.
ReplyDeleteThe people responsible for rejecting I-98 ,are those whom should be credited with preventing any North Country economic improvement . They have absolutely no vision of what this project would translate into both short and long term .Perhaps these people in opposition should get on a plane and travel around this great country or even a foreign country and see whats going on . They want the ecomomic growth to proceed the infra structure when in reality, the reverse is required . Meanwhile our property taxes are continually going up to support the unemployed and social welfare communities .
ReplyDeletePlease show us any proof that a big influx of jobs (other than construction) will happen if this highway is built.
DeleteMr. Clark claimed a while ago that 24,000 timber related jobs were just waiting for the highway to be built.
Why must those jobs wait for the highway? Why can't we start developing our timber industry now if the jobs are there? What evidence is there that these jobs are really possible and why would the highway create them.
We need better transportation infrastructure, no doubt.
But why wait for the big, humungous I-98 payoff? Why not start improving what we have now?
Let's start the four-lane process in the existing rights-of-way for Route 11, Route 37 and Route 12, and let's start it now. It will mean jobs NOW!!!
I think the I-98 idea has been around before the DEMS were in control, so i think you are saying when the REPUBS get back in the money will be FREE FLOWING again!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteNo, not at all. What I am saying is that this latest scenario simply means the highway will not be built for the next 50 years if ever.
DeleteBut let's be honest, Republican John McHugh is the only elected federal official who has EVER secured money for this project to my knowledge.
As I recall, here's the sum total of Democratic funding: Hillary Clinton, nothing. Gillibrand, zero. Schumer, zip. Owens, nada. Gillibrand was supposed to make a BIG announcement last year, and it never happened.
I don't think the Republicans will fund this either because the federal government is broke and there is no political clout here.
Although I have yet to see any evidence that the highway will create jobs beyond construction, I'm not trying to tear down the idea.
I'm claim to be a realist and the reality is that there is no evidence of federal or state support for I-98 or I-2012, or I-whatever, other than some occasional lip service.
I am a supporter of the I-98 highway. I wonder if there would be such opposition if it was planned to run along Rt. 37? At any rate, I am also a realist as well, we need a definitive answer from our Federal and State government. If they say no dice; then lets put the money into upgrades on Rt. 11.
ReplyDeleteAll I can think of when I hear the "Roof-toppers" claims that an interstate highway will, 'cure poverty', and be 'transformational' is the, Flat Earth Society. First of all, I-98 isn't even listed as a project on any state or federal highway planning document. There are many other federal and state highway projects on those lists that have been approved and are awaiting funding... as they have been for many years now. There is no money to build these things! Are the state and federal governments really going to suddenly approve I-98 and drop it in ahead of all of these other approved projects in much more populated areas, (translation-politically powerful)? Are they going to defund the Tappan Zee bridge and tell 500,000 vehicles per day in the greater NY City metro area to, 'find another way to work'? What about our own Ogdensburg-Prescott Bridge that is currently structurally deficient and in need of 90 million dollars of repair in the next five years or it will be in danger of closing?
ReplyDeleteI read a highway construction metric the other day that said that each dollar paid to highway construction workers generates 5 additional dollars of economic activity in the local economy. The 6 million dollars DOT is thankfully going to spend actually building a highway instead of squandering it on another round of studies and engineering reports could mean 30 million dollars of economic activity in central St. Lawrence County. Our St. Lawrence County legislature, prisoners of the I-98 delusion, refuse to get behind that reality because they would rather throw it away on more highway studies in the hopes that they will finally get a study to say what none of the others have said.