My Angry Letter
OAKLAND TRIBUNE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, SEPT 11
The Oakland Tribune newspaper printed my 'Letter to the Editor' on Friday, Sept 11! A little background for those who don't live in the San Fran Area : the Bay Bridge is the main arterial roadway between San Francisco & Oakland/East Bay (260k cars every day), and during the Labor Day weekend (in 09 as well as 06 and 07), it was closed down for seismic improvements. This year, the planned closure was Thursday night-Tuesday morning, but Caltrans inspectors on Saturday found a crack in one of the supports, and warned that the Bridge may not open as planned Tuesday morning. Indeed, at 5pm Monday, they announced the bridge would remain closed til 5am Wednesday.
That sent commuters into worry and despair - Friday it had been closed, but many people had days off planned, etc etc. Tuesday would be a nightmare, and they encouraged people to get an early start on Wednesday's commute.
Lo and behold, Caltrans called a press conference at 6:15am Tuesday, to announce the Bridge would reopen at 7am. OK - it was great to have it open. But Caltrans obviously knew hours ahead of time exactly when they could get it open. Why did they not inform local news at 4am or even 5am, of the specifics?? Because - they wanted to be glory hounds and hold people in sway. Read on, for the text of my letter :
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I congratulate the difficult tasks the Bay Bridge workers completed in an incredible amount of time this weekend. However, I am irked at the atrocious timing of Caltrans' announcement reopening the Bay Bridge.
It was absurd to have waited until 6:15 a.m. to declare the bridge would reopen at 7 a.m. By this time, thousands of commuters were already stuck in traffic at the other toll plazas, or crammed onto BART, or huddled at ferry terminals. All of whom were getting an early jump on expected traffic, at Caltrans' behest.
Why wasn't this announcement made earlier, or at least released to local media, at a time when more commuters could have used this information? I know why — because Caltrans wished for a grand stage, a bright spotlight, to soak up accolades and make themselves look heroic.
There was a similar incident recently, in which repairs to a steel panel on the lower deck were finished ahead of schedule. Instead of waiting for traffic to quell, Caltrans actually shut the bridge down at 7 p.m. on a weekday, completely stopping eastbound traffic for more than an hour, just so the local news would give them undivided attention. Unbelievable and disgraceful.
Perhaps if they truly had the best interests of commuters in mind, we would have much smoother traffic flow, and not just news conferences and talking heads.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Support your local media!
The Oakland Tribune newspaper printed my 'Letter to the Editor' on Friday, Sept 11! A little background for those who don't live in the San Fran Area : the Bay Bridge is the main arterial roadway between San Francisco & Oakland/East Bay (260k cars every day), and during the Labor Day weekend (in 09 as well as 06 and 07), it was closed down for seismic improvements. This year, the planned closure was Thursday night-Tuesday morning, but Caltrans inspectors on Saturday found a crack in one of the supports, and warned that the Bridge may not open as planned Tuesday morning. Indeed, at 5pm Monday, they announced the bridge would remain closed til 5am Wednesday.
That sent commuters into worry and despair - Friday it had been closed, but many people had days off planned, etc etc. Tuesday would be a nightmare, and they encouraged people to get an early start on Wednesday's commute.
Lo and behold, Caltrans called a press conference at 6:15am Tuesday, to announce the Bridge would reopen at 7am. OK - it was great to have it open. But Caltrans obviously knew hours ahead of time exactly when they could get it open. Why did they not inform local news at 4am or even 5am, of the specifics?? Because - they wanted to be glory hounds and hold people in sway. Read on, for the text of my letter :
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I congratulate the difficult tasks the Bay Bridge workers completed in an incredible amount of time this weekend. However, I am irked at the atrocious timing of Caltrans' announcement reopening the Bay Bridge.
It was absurd to have waited until 6:15 a.m. to declare the bridge would reopen at 7 a.m. By this time, thousands of commuters were already stuck in traffic at the other toll plazas, or crammed onto BART, or huddled at ferry terminals. All of whom were getting an early jump on expected traffic, at Caltrans' behest.
Why wasn't this announcement made earlier, or at least released to local media, at a time when more commuters could have used this information? I know why — because Caltrans wished for a grand stage, a bright spotlight, to soak up accolades and make themselves look heroic.
There was a similar incident recently, in which repairs to a steel panel on the lower deck were finished ahead of schedule. Instead of waiting for traffic to quell, Caltrans actually shut the bridge down at 7 p.m. on a weekday, completely stopping eastbound traffic for more than an hour, just so the local news would give them undivided attention. Unbelievable and disgraceful.
Perhaps if they truly had the best interests of commuters in mind, we would have much smoother traffic flow, and not just news conferences and talking heads.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Support your local media!
posted by pegasusgiraffe at 4:58 PM
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