New highway 331 bridge in Walton County
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Is it true that the Mid Bay Bridge has collected enough revenue from tolls to pay off the costs of designing and building that bridge?
Little bit on the Mid Bay Bridge's finances as of March 2008. (original article appeared in the Destin Log)
Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County Florida
Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County Florida
This is about priorities. I read the latest articles about the expansion of the 331 bridge being funded by private individuals and one thing reads to me as if it were in bold print. Every time there is news of the private expansion the writer goes out of their way to point out the names of some of the individuals involved. That is not a part of the math equation and is 100% irrelevant for budget discussion purposes.
Private development of that infrastructure is better for taxpayers than government run.
I think who the players are is a VERY important part of the story!
Especially when they rushing something through to get $$$ from the government and potentially screwing up an important traffic artery and emergency route that we have been going through the proper channels to expand for years!
We keep calling for more transparency in government, so I applaud the reporter for naming names!
Especially when they rushing something through to get $$$ from the government and potentially screwing up an important traffic artery and emergency route that we have been going through the proper channels to expand for years!
We keep calling for more transparency in government, so I applaud the reporter for naming names!
Though I'm not fond of privitization of existing public infrastructure since that seems to always result in higher costs and frequently in a lower level of service for users.
And the private infrastructure companies go for the bloat just as much as the public ones do. The Mid Bay Bridge Authority is spending a crazy amount of money to build a bypass around Niceville that really isn't necessary and that's not going to be used by the majority of daily users for the current bridge. And then when revenues for the bypass aren't All That, we're going to be stuck paying more in bridge fare to pay off the bypass road that's not being used as expected.
And the private infrastructure companies go for the bloat just as much as the public ones do. The Mid Bay Bridge Authority is spending a crazy amount of money to build a bypass around Niceville that really isn't necessary and that's not going to be used by the majority of daily users for the current bridge. And then when revenues for the bypass aren't All That, we're going to be stuck paying more in bridge fare to pay off the bypass road that's not being used as expected.
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Based on the article regarding the MBBA I am very curious as to the Bond ownership of the MBBA board members.
How much would you like to bet that the cash nest egg is being saved up to "help" the 331 expansion and thus increase the MBBA empire? Why don't we just privatize all of the bridges in/out of South Walton? After all to avoid the tolls one can still swim or fly. :roll:
There is such a thing as a performance bond and they have worked exceedingly well over the years to insure that the work is completed. Sure, there have been times recently where the government has let work not be completed and let the bonds expire, but that again is a government problem.
Are you kidding me?
"We have a system in place that works just fine .................. except for lately when it hasn't worked (on a much smaller scale)"
Oh yeah, let's use that system on our main road and our emergency evacuation route! :roll:
"We have a system in place that works just fine .................. except for lately when it hasn't worked (on a much smaller scale)"
Oh yeah, let's use that system on our main road and our emergency evacuation route! :roll:
No, I'm not kidding you. Are you kidding me? The performance bond is a bond that pays out to complete a project. The bond is as flawless as it's custodian. The State administers these bonds quite well. It is the County who has chosen to let developers off the hook and relinquished their performance guarantees. If the County doesn't have the competence to administer the local performance bonds the State should seize them and the regulatory authority to administer them.