What could possibly go wrong?

We have some road construction going on here in Edwards, Colorado—a new roundabout and the widening of two small bridges.  Two aspects of the project, the roundabout itself and the bridge over the Eagle River appear to be proceeding on schedule, but the construction of the Union Pacific Bridge (the bridge over the railroad tracks) was halted almost immediately after it began.

Why?  If you believe the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) the Union Pacific Railroad experienced significant layoffs in the fall of 2018; as a result there’ve been delays in negotiations to finalize the expansion of the bridge.  Hmmm, a layoff occurring over a year ago and still no one at the Union Pacific has the time to negotiate the widening of a 200 foot bridge in Edwards, Colorado?

The first question that comes to mind is why wasn’t this negotiation completed prior to beginning construction?  Was it a miscommunication, a misunderstanding, was something mismanaged, perhaps a phone call or email wasn’t returned; maybe a fax was blurred or a communication was lost in mail or in cyberspace; did someone fail to get an approval or misread an easement?  Who knows, it’s all speculation anyway.  But what is not speculation is work on the second bridge hasn’t started and motorists will be inconvenienced for likely another year.

I am not faulting CDOT, the construction company, the Edwards Metropolitan District or the Eagle County Commissioners because when government interacts with non-governmental entities “these things happen,” and taxpayers will suffer the consequences.

But consider, the Edwards construction will cost roughly $21 million serving a community of several thousand and administered by a handful of entities has inconvenienced motorists for almost half a year already with no precise date for completion.

Now contrast this project with Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare-for-All plan; a plan that’s estimated to cost  $52 TRILLION not $21 million; a plan that will affect not a few thousand but rather three hundred and thirty million and involving not three or four agencies but scores of them, employing thousands of bureaucrats who will create a hundred thousand pages of new regulations while taking as many as 180 million people off private health insurance.  Gee, what could possibly go wrong?

Quote of the Day:  “If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.”— President Barack Obama