Heh… a project being backed by both Al Franken and Michelle Bachmann is getting panned. They want to get an exemption to the federal Wild and Scenic Act so that they can build a $700 million bridge between MN and WI. Problem is that they (and a few other bipartisan members of the WI and MN delegations) are the only ones who seem to think that it isn’t a boondoggle. There are less costly options that aren’t being considered, and by tying up so much money on this one project, thousands of other bridges in both states can’t get needed attention.

The NYT points this out as a bit of hypocrisy on porkbarrel spending from Bachmann, but it’s really an issue confronting all politicians when it comes to infrastructure spending.

This $700 million project would go to replace a bridge that is overcapacity and serves 18,000+ commuters daily.

$700 million would go a long way to replacing the Pulaski skyway, which needs to be replaced and is obsolete and a safety hazard for those driving (or working underneath). The Pulaski handles… 67,000 drivers a day - but truck traffic must be diverted because it has weight limits and that overburdens nearby highways and roads.

$700 million would go a long way to replacing the Portal Bridge in NJ that is a major bottleneck for hundreds of thousands of commuters on the NEC.

$700 million would go a long way to improving the ATC infrastructure.

Oh, and this project is nearly 2x the cost to replace the I35 bridge that collapsed, and yet would handle a fraction of the traffic and is a fraction of the size.