I'm not driving those roads, so.... sorry:
"LA faces $15 billion bill as pipes spring leaks" by James Nash | Bloomberg News August 17, 2014
No, no, no, the water shortage out there is drought like what the propaganda pre$$ said, not neglected infrastructure like what I said.
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles is showing its age, and city officials don’t have plans for financing the face lift.
All that money in that town and infrastructure neglected?
From buckling sidewalks to potholed thoroughfares to storm drains that can’t handle much rain, the infrastructure that holds the second-largest US city together is suffering from years of deferred maintenance.
Bringing pipes that deliver water to 3.9 million people up to snuff could cost $4 billion — more than half the city’s annual operating budget. The bill for repaving streets would be almost that much, according to estimates from a city consultant, and patching or replacing cracked sidewalks would require $640 million.
City Council members recently gave up on a proposal to ask voters for a sales-tax increase to finance street and sidewalk repairs, and Mayor Eric Garcetti has ruled out raising water rates anytime soon to upgrade pipelines.
(Blog editor just shaking his head)
‘‘We’re in trouble,’’ said Jack Humphreville, the budget advocate for LA’s advisory neighborhood councils. His estimate, based on figures provided by the city, is that getting public works into good shape will take $10 billion to $15 billion. ‘‘This is no different from debt.’’
A 30-foot geyser that spewed some 20 million gallons of water from a ruptured trunk line under Sunset Boulevard on July 29 brought renewed attention to the decay. The council called on the Department of Water and Power to scrutinize pipelines and other parts of the system, but didn’t discuss ways of finding money to fix what might be broken.
‘‘We can’t tax our way out of this,’’ said Councilor Mitchell Englander. Voters won’t approve adding to the local sales tax — which at 9 percent is among the nation’s highest — and would revolt if the price of water went up, he said. As it is, water costs are the seventh-highest in the nation, according to a survey by the conservation nonprofit Circle of Blue.
Do it for the greater good then.
The riveted-steel line that burst under Sunset is 90 years old. To replace every line by the time it hits 100, as many engineers recommend, would require a 4 percent boost in water rates every year, according to City Councilor Paul Koretz.
‘‘It’s so much work,’’ he said. ‘‘We have infrastructure in need of replacing at a quicker rate than we have been.’’
Where did all the f***ing money go all these years?
Many cities and states are in the same rusty boat, having put off investing in bridges, wastewater systems, dams, and other public works that need regular maintenance and upgrades.
Because all the tax loot has to go (in order of priority): Israel, Wall Street, the war machine, well-connected corporations and concerns, and the funding of lavish political lifestyles.
Oh, sorry, nothing left for services of any kind.
The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates the country would have to spend $3.6 trillion to get the nation’s infrastructure in decent working order by 2020.
Too bad all the money went to Israel, wars, Wall Street, and the rest.
The systems that treat and distribute drinking water in the United States need $384 billion in upgrades over the next 20 years, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, while the National Association of Water Companies says the bill for California is $74 billion.
If this is not a cash grab, then it is evidence of a colossal failure by the government that loves us so much. Of course, they have plenty of money to set up a monitoring network of total data collection. F*** your water needs, citizen.
Those extensive investments for the very long term aren’t the kind voters are easily persuaded to back, said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles. ‘‘Infrastructure is a very difficult thing politically. It’s not the same as putting more cops on the streets.’’
I don't even want to type it, but this idea that infrastructure is difficult is ridiculous. We were told it was job $timuloot, and now it was all wasted?
New York City has 6,800 miles of water mains and is spending about $716 million on capital improvements this year, while LA has 7,225 miles and spends $766 million annually, according to statistics from the two cities.
About 240 miles of LA’s pipes are more than a century old, James McDaniel, senior assistant general manager of the Department of Water and Power, told the the City Council’s energy and environment committee on Aug. 6.
I wonder what poisons have corroded them.
The utility replaces only about 18 miles of pipe per year rather than the 34 miles officials called for in 2012. McDaniel said managers want to be able to replace pipes at a rate of every 170 years — which would be an improvement over the present change-out pace of every 315 years.
Garcetti, elected last year after running on a ‘‘back to basics’’ platform, doesn’t favor tax or water-rate increases to fund improvements, and he hasn’t proposed bond measures. He has said existing resources should be used more wisely.
As for the July 29 rupture, the cause was a bad joint, not an old pipe the city should have replaced, he said. Still, ‘‘we pay for this one way or another. If a main breaks, that cost comes back to ratepayers.’’
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That whole article was dry of drought, notice that?
"How does Hollywood teach an old dog new tricks? Pay attention, Toto, because DreamWorks Animation, which gained control of the faded Lassie brand in 2012, has unleashed the comeback campaign to end all comeback campaigns."
You might want to watch where you step back here. Sorry.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: A desperate proposal in Los Angeles
