So they are widening the Kirkpatrick turnpike - fine. But just a year ago or so they installed the cable barrier along much of the turnpike. Now a year later they are now removing the one year old cable system to widened the turnpike. Are you serious? So NO ONE had foresight about the possibility of the road being widened? Not sure who is in charge of such a waste of money but it seems like heads ought to roll for this type of lack of leadership.

Did its presence prevent any accidents from being worse?

So they are widening the Kirkpatrick turnpike - fine. But just a year ago or so they installed the cable barrier along much of the turnpike. Now a year later they are now removing the one year old cable system to widened the turnpike. Are you serious? So NO ONE had foresight about the possibility of the road being widened? Not sure who is in charge of such a waste of money but it seems like heads ought to roll for this type of lack of leadership.

They announced the widening going ahead months if not at least a year before the cable barrier went in. The road had been designed to be widened though.

[QUOTE=Snowman;539084]They announced the widening going ahead months if not at least a year before the cable barrier went in. The road had been designed to be widened though.[/QUOTE

I'd call this a huge mistake. A huge planning mistake. A huge costly mistake. Am I wrong?

Did its presence prevent any accidents from being worse?

This. Those cables are very effective.

This. Those cables are very effective.
Yes, and if only one life was saved in the year the cables were there, it's worth it. Safety issues can't be delayed based on future construction plans. And by the way, the cable systems are relatively cheap compared to other systems. Unfortunately, the removal of the cable system is probably a little pricey. But, the cable will probably be reused.
C. T.

Please. Its not the effectiveness of the cables in this dicussion. The discussion is lack of leadership in replacing/removing the cable system only after having it installed a year ago SO THAT they can add an additional lane to the Kirkpatrick. Apparently there was NO foresight in planning somewhere/somehow. I have a friend who is retired from Tinker. The stories he tells about government waste and poor planning would make your blood boil!!

Perhaps it wasn't a mistake, but rather a conscious choice to provide the safety barriers at the earliest time instead of waiting on the road widening. I would have made the same choice. It may be a bit wasteful in labor and materiel (can they can re-use the barriers after removing them?) but its better to have a safer road that to postpone the barrier installation to wait on the road widening. Projects such as this have been delayed before.

You canna separate safety and effectiveness (the sole reasons to incur cable barrier expense to begin with) with planning. Now I suppose f a cable barrier was put in on a closed road and taken out before it was opened due to poor install or whatever, that would constitute waste. Here. the barriers were available for hundreds upon hundreds of drivers and passengers each day.

You would have to hold any protection to them was meaningless to hold this as an example of govt. waste. Less than stellar planning? perhaps, but not abject waste.

Cable barriers are roughly a 1/4 of what Jersey concrete barriers typically cost, in some cases they can be much cheaper because of design and construction regarding drainage (or lack of it) for some Jersey barrier installations. Most of the above ground components of cable barriers can be relocated or reused if they have not been damaged.

I agree, the cables should be able to be reused.