Why in hell does Escambia County waste money like this?

Take a look at this picture...


What do you see? Houses and a convenience store on one corner, a convenience store on another, offices on another corner... and mostly surrounded by woods, 5,000 acres of which will never be developed due to the Pitcher Plant Prairie Preserve.

So, for the last month, the County has been surveying, pouring a fancy triangular curb at a turn lane, installing a crosswalk post with the electrical "Hand" sign, and running underground wiring. This is at the NW corner of the intersection where there is only one lonely convenience store.

Having grown up just West of this intersection, I know that this IS NOT an area frequented by pedestrians. There is simply no place to go to speak of...

Okay, there are schools to the NW of this intersection, but absolutely zero kids walk through this intersection to get to school... zero.

For the money they spent on this, they could have installed a traffic light at the Perdido Bay CC where a light is desperately needed.

And they did it at the NW corner of Dog Track and Blue Angel Parkway, too. There ain't nothin' but a cypress SWAMP on the NW corner...

Dumb.

How much does such a venture cost, E²? I figure given your background, you're likely to know such a thing... or at least be able to make an educated guesstimate.

riceme wrote:

Dumb.

How much does such a venture cost, E²? I figure given your background, you're likely to know such a thing... or at least be able to make an educated guesstimate.

I have no ID (Alabama slang for idea) how much it costs. My SWAG (Stupid Wild-Assed Guess) is at least $20,000 worth of infrastructure out there, with engineering, forming, pouring/finishing concrete, fancy electronic sign, switch mounted somewhere for pedestrians to push, etc.

I haven't checked with the County, but I'll take a stab in the dark and say some school-based Federal Gubment fund paid a grant to the County. (I hope like hell they didn't decide to spend County funds on this worthless boondoggle.)

Roger that.

I savvy "SWAG"... Has been a key component of many of my past job descriptions. lol.

Ja, I hope they didn't spend any of your county $$$$$ on that malarkey either. What a friggin' waste either way... As if the Federal Gub'ment has money to burn right now. Grrr!

It just so happens that there are schools with a quarter-mile of each of those intersections. I'm smart enough to put two and two together and get five...

Ricey, I defined SWAG because lately it has a different connotation.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=swag (rough language)

i always thought SWAG meant scientific wild assed guess!!!!!!!!!! LMAO

I surely don't people to think "Secretly We Are Gay"...

This is the forerunner of the Good Ol' Boys making another killing. They have figured something out that nobody else knows about.