[JackFr]

Kevin Williamson writing about tunnel repairs in NYC

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/l-train-shutdown-repai...

"There was a terrible storm in 2012 that damaged the tunnel; repairs beginning in 2019 will shut down L Train service for a year and a half, etc. What strikes me as remarkable is that none of these accounts contains any half-serious attempt to explain to the curious reader such as myself why in the name of all that is good and holy it is taking all these years to get from Hurricane Sandy to Hurricane Sandy repairs.

Assuming those repairs are done on schedule nearly nine years will have passed between Sandy and the completion of storm repairs. That’s twice as long as it took the United States to defeat the Axis powers, twice as long as the Civil War, longer than the time that elapsed between John Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech and landing Americans on the moon."

[jandrese]

It should be noted that it only took 8 years for the line to be built in the first place.

[mstade]

> That’s twice as long as it took the United States to defeat the Axis powers, twice as long as the Civil War, longer than the time that elapsed between John Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech and landing Americans on the moon."

Implying the United States defeated the axis powers on their own is a bit rich – don't you think?

Disregarding the revisionism of your comment, this seems to be a common argument in discussions like this and I wonder why? Isn't it fairly obvious that those ambitious undertakings were either due to significant political will or being forced by danger of death, whereas repairing a subway most probably carries none of that weight? So those responsible must fight tooth and nail to convince the powers that be of the necessity of the work, probably end up being underfunded anyhow, and of course all this requires the responsible (political) parties care enough in the first place.

It seems like a pretty unreasonable argument to me, but maybe I'm missing the point.

[JackFr]

I don't think the point was to imply that the US beat the axis powers on their own, but rather to put the timeline in perspective.

Notwithstanding that, you are missing the point. The failure to rebuild the tunnel is at its heart a failure of leadership. We have the technology, we have the money, what we lack are political leaders with will and vision.

In the examples you brought up, FDR led a nation dragging their heels into a war most people were happy to stay out of. He showed leadership and no small amount of political skill to get the United States into a war most wanted to avoid (which makes the 'beat-the-axis-singlehandedly' trope even more ironic.) Similarly with Lincoln and the Civil War. Many people were content to live with the status quo of slavery. And so with Kennedy and the moon landing -- the Cold War was not an existential threat, and the leadership of Kennedy generated the will.

To get a subway tunnel repaired doesn't need a once in a century or once in a generation leader, but it does take some will and vision and political savvy. The venal mealy-mouthed bums we're currently stuck with are simply not up to the task.

[jacquesm]

This is what could be like:

https://inhabitat.com/japanese-workers-take-just-6-days-to-f...

The side-by-side picture is stunning.

[scottlamb]

Americans can pull off that kind of fast repair, too: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2018/12/07/an-...

The Washington Post article hints at some of the differences between their repair and more permanent work:

> Alaska DOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy was quick to emphasize that this was emergency repair work and not a regular transportation project.

> The latter requires permitting, survey operations, geotechnical work and a host of other prerequisites — and those finished roadways are designed to last, say, 20 years, she said.

> “All of those things take a lot of time,” McCarthy told The Washington Post. “This is not that kind of project. This is a project to restore essential travel.”

> While the repaired road is safe for drivers, it will require additional work after the spring arrives, she added.