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Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Thursday, June 19, 2008

Rust didn’t kill the bridge; bureaucracy did

By Jim Galewski

The worst inconvenience I’ll have with the Interstate Bridge closure is we won’t be going to Wisconsin for Father’s Day. The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed the bridge in a very dramatic move last week.

It is classic government bureaucracy. MnDOT discovered rusted gusset plates and chose to make the biggest splash it could by closing the bridge. Local leaders and resourceful citizens scrambled to find a solution and did a pretty good job. Just think how much smoother this “emergency” could have played out if MnDOT would have given us a one-week notice.

“In the name of safety,” is a pretty safe blanket to hide under. Even with that big smoke-screen, it was easy to see MnDOT’s fragile ego and grab for power. We’ve been getting national coverage on losing our bridge, and MnDOT is finding itself at the center of attention.

There are all kinds of causes when we try to pin blame on something. Most fingers are being pointed at MnDOT, which has plenty of experience at handling criticism.

To close the bridge immediately says something was overlooked in previous inspections. What is harder to understand is why MnDOT officials wouldn’t allow pedestrians or bicyclists to cross the bridge, yet its own inspection trucks moved about the bridge.

It smacks of making the closure as dramatic and as inconvenient as possible. It’s a classic government action when it meets a problem. MnDOT has the failed I-35W bridge in defense of its decision. Refusing to allow even pedestrian traffic to cross the bridge puts us in our place and solidifies MnDOT’s position. Ironically, MnDOT is a state agency designed to serve the public. How well do you feel served?

It’s no different when a school board finds itself short of money. The board will look at the most emotional service it offers — usually sports and music — and threaten to take away those aspects of education unless they get more funding.

I thought our mayor, council members and city staff did what they had to do. They have to be diplomatic to find a solution. That leaves us mad as hell and asking for somebody’s head.

Be it state funding formulas or the little trickle of money MnDOT spends in this corner of the state, we have a right to be screaming at our government and we need to make sure they know how badly they failed. It was not the bridge, but the way they inspect our bridges, the ridiculous maintenance we get on our highways and the arrogant attitude we get when we demand more than closing our bridge.

Diplomacy is a two-way street. We shouldn’t have to sugarcoat our words in hopes that bureaucrats will throw us a bone. We pay a lot of money in taxes, and we get a pretty miserly return.

It’s time MnDOT pay better attention to this corner of the state. When an inspection determines that gussets have failed, it shouldn’t be a surprise. The bridge condition is MnDOT’s responsibility. When a bridge has to be closed, it shouldn’t be a surprise. When a 60-year-old bridge is closed because of rust and corrosion, it means it wasn’t maintained properly. That lays the blame squarely on MnDOT’s shoulders.

Rusty gussets aren’t to blame for the bridge closure. The bridge had to be closed because MnDOT failed to care and maintain its structure. To show us rusty pieces of metal is only trying to divert the blame from the people we hire to take care of our roads.

Buffalo County responds with speed trap

The Buffalo County Sheriff’s department was on its toes the morning after the bridge closure. If motorists in Wisconsin took the northerly detour to the Wabasha bridge, the sheriff’s department was waiting to make sure no one was trying to shave off a few minutes from the extra hour-long drive.

Of course, the speed trap was put there in the name of safety. The increased traffic had nothing to do with collecting a few extra tickets.

Board buried in paperwork

I got my hands on a Winona Area Public School’s meeting agenda for June. It’s a weighty document. I have always appreciated the work of the school board members, and I recognize I would never have the attention to detail it takes to be a responsible school board member.

When I hefted the school board agenda — all 256 pages of it — I wondered if anyone tried to simplify this document. When something is that lengthy, it seldom gets a good look.

I started to read it, just to see what was hidden in the mass of pages.

The shear volume of the document epitomizes how broken our public education process has become. We shouldn’t need chapters to define a regular school board meeting.

If it takes that much documentation to get work done, we have lost control of the process. Education should be a process of learning. You shouldn’t have to be a Philadelphia lawyer to understand it.

Galewski is the retired editor and Opinion page editor of the Winona Daily News. His views don’t necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper. If you have an idea or tip about a Winona issue, call Jim at (507) 452-3960. His e-mail address is editor@luminet.net.