Construction Season Is Here … WoooooHooooo!!!

It’s the time of year you’ve been waiting for ….. road construction season!

Wait ….

School has started …..construction should be over, because by some unwritten, but highly understood law – road construction only takes place during summer vacation season to fully enhance automobile driver road-rage.

But it’s still around …

Where have we found to be one of the bigger bottlenecks?

The parallel work on Rt65 and Beaver Street near Sewickley and Edgeworth.

I realize there has always been a ridiculous competitive spirit in Edgeworth to be better than everyone else … but now they are competing with PennDot. Go Figure!

Here is the main problems of the Edgeworth Road Crew competing with PennDOT:

1. They ALL WORKED …. the whole road crew worked.  If you are going to compete with PennDOT there are rules!!!

• At least six supervisors doing nothing. Edgworth appeared to only have one supervisor, actually supervising.
• Shovel leaners …… no less than 5.  Edgeworth had none.
• Only one laborer actually working …. Edgworth had at least 10 to 12 people actually working on the project.
• The path through the road construction should be clearly confusing to the point where you feel you are either going to go head in to another car or end up driving through a guard rail.  Edgeworth’s direction was well laid out.

Get the idea …… there are rules to this road work stuff.

What did they get right?  At least one thing:

• Obstructions – Edgeworth did well, and obviously learned from PennDOT in this area.  The main road work is around the elementary school and was started (good timing learned from PennDOT here) right when the school year started. Well done, this is where Edgworth gave PennDOT some competition in the way proper road construction is to be done.

As far as Rt65 in Pittsburgh …. that ramp is completed – but we, here at SWB still take the detour, as it doesn’t feel right in PA at any point to get a straight shot to where we are traveling without at least 20 minutes minimum of detours.

-SWB

It’s Spring!

Birds are singing.

Snow is melting.

Potholes are blooming.

Green shamrocks are growing in the potholes.

You get the idea … it’s turning Spring in Pittsburgh.

—————

So what other signs of Spring do we have in this wonderful city of ours?

Let’s see:

• The pirates are starting spring training with aspirations to actually become a baseball team again.
• The waters are threatening to crest and carry Pittsburgh’s Primanti sandwiches out to sea.
• The Cultural District smells like a well tuned engine with the performances of Grease (or could that be the oil leaks from the buses?).
• Orange pylons are emerging from winter storage as Pittsburgh’s roadway obstacle courses are set for the Spring and Summer seasons.
• In The Strip, dogs howl as the sweet voices of the Opera blend with the musical tones of the local bird song.
• The aromas from the open doors at Pittsburgh Popcorn enlighten the senses (and unfortunately distract the drivers … that kitty never had a chance).
• Vendors in the strip finally shed their winter garb, thaw out, and begin wakening from hibernation (it was sad how people just stole their stuff when they were sleeping over the winter).
• Oh, and did I mention the potholes?  Well, we’re not going to make fun of the city crew, since this is really going to be a sucky Spring for them … although they fill all probably end up fitter than a fiddle (until St. Patty’s Day … along with everyone else).

-SWB

PS – Yup, Spring is in the air … so is the job market, fuel prices, home values.  Such appropriate crisis’ for the Spring 😉

They’re back …….

… who?

The terminator?

The Back Street Boys?

Kanye West’s career?

Nope …. none of the above.

The leaves … those wonderful leaves we all so treasure when the seasons change?

Yep, that’s it.

Unfortunately, this year they also brought the G-20, protesters, and construction debris.

So what do we have to rake up this season?

As far as SWB can tell:

• Opie’s popcorn in the media room at Snoop Dogg’s house
• Shards of glass within the normal level of street litter in Oakland
• and rubber from the wrecks caused by PennDot construction this fall.

What does this do?

Well, it brings new people to the city (either those that experienced the city for the first time during the G-20, or just like to see it during the seasonal changes), it adds safety to our streets (less the over-turned cars trying to avoid the road workers), and gets voices heard (even if you don’t agree with them).

This brings both good and bad points. The more we become an international city, the more we have to learn. The more of a variety of people that populate Pittsburgh, the more of a chance of both the good and bad things from other countries taking root here (anything from fresh baklava to terrorism). In some way, America and Pittsburgh has always found a way to find the good in things – at least the American people do (native and adopted).

Another thing that is back and can only bring pure happiness to the masses:

You guessed it …. Zombie movies.

Zombieland starts this week (Oct 2) ….. totally brainless, and fictional zombie fun almost pulled straight from the first Dawn of The Dead eras.

See … just when you thought everything was turning negative – a Zombie movie comes out to save the day.

Two things to remember about Pittsburgh:

1. This city was pretty much international from the beginning (so deal with it)
2. Romero really introduced zombie movies to the masses from this city (so deal with that too)

-SWB

PS – Did anyone see my mascara?? I need it for the movie opening tomorrow night …. crap.

State Transit Crisis – even with US infused money

We always hope for the best, then the typical happens. This time, even with U.S. help the Pennsylvania roads are again in a crisis situation. There isn’t enough money again, decisions can’t be made at both the federal and state levels, etc,etc. Oh – and the Turnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin stepped down after his wife was busted with Vincent J Fumo. Hmmmm ….. I wonder if you are going to see more of Mitchell in the news?

Here are two of the current articles from the PG:

The Transit Crisis and Turnpike Chairman

SWB says we just make all of the people in control of making decisions for PA’s road work go out and hand pave the roads for all of the money they wasted.

-SWB

PS – The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s motto – “Shovel Leaning and Money Wasting even better than PennDOT”.

…. it sounds just like a jet ….

Nothing like flying the wild blue yonder ….. re-using an old jet engine may come close.

I used to live at The Cork Factory in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, so I still get the posts from one of their resident forums to keep in tough with friends.

One current one that came up was about a jet-engine like sound possibly coming from across the river. Working in buildings with their own backup generators, I know that some of the newer turbo-charged models can sound like jet engines, so I politely explained that in a post back to the forum. Then, I started thinking ….. construction just started again on Rt28 (affectionately known as “death 28” by Pittsburghers). I’ve also heard that PennDOT has started to employee newer methods to get their workers moving more efficiently – the biggest challenge being the historically significant “shovel leaners”. When I say “historically significant” I do mean that because every picture of roads being built from the discovery of the wheel has included “shovel leaners”.

Anyway … due to the really bad economy, there were rumors that the business jet companies started parting out their planes and sold a few jet engines to PennDOT to get the “shovel leaners” moving. It was the only method that generated enough thrust to get them to move from their pre-planted secured positions at the work-site.

-SWB

PS – I have a great deal of respect for the “shovel leaners” – it’s almost as perfect of a job as a meteorologist.

East Carson Street getting fat … finally!

Not that I’m happy about the fact that it’s probably going to take two hours to get from Crazy Mocha in the SouthSide Works to Joseph-Beth in the same center – at least PennDOT is *finally* starting to take care of a traffic bottle-neck.

Here is the reference article in the PG

-SWB

PS – watch out for the coffee snatchers …. they’ll be closer to the stores soon.

Arrrrgggghhhh ….. stupid PennDOT

(not Rt 79 …. but who really cares, it’s a highway)

Now I’m really mad ……

I’ve changed my job a little over a year ago.  I now travel regularly to Rt 79.

You know what the problem is?????

I have a clear shot … no traffic, no lights, no nothing!!!!

…. on top of that NO CONSTRUCTION!!!!

As long as I’ve lived it’s been an unwritten rule that at least every five miles of Rt 79 have construction.  That has never changed – until now.  What gives PennDOT the right to STOP the inconveniences of construction???  Don’t they realize us everyday workers use them as excuses when we get up late (or just don’t want to go in to work on time)???   What the heck???

What gives PennDOT the right to screw up our daily lives WITHOUT construction???

Come on guys … ur out of practice …. get back into the shovel leaning ……

– A P’d off weasel