Subj : peeves was: Eagle Cam To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Wed Dec 18 2019 08:11:00 Hi Nancy! BM>> Oh well. At one time they were considering tunnels instead of bridges BM>> over the Mississippi, at least locally. Would not have had the view; BM>> hey look at that! NB>> More likely concrete than glass, to be sure... ;) BM> Yes, probably concrete. I don't recall what the tunnel material was BM> going to be but at the time no consideration for under river viewing. BM> ...Not recalling anything for pedestrians nor bicyclists; the bridge BM> being built now does have accomodations, including an elevator. NB> Pedestrians and bicycles do get more taken into account in NB> planning now... :) Yes: both Iowa and Illinois have a fairly extensive system of trails and walkways along the Mississippi River and some of the tributaries. NB>>>> True... the river traffic would be interesting to me... along with NB>>>> the eagles fishing.... So often, I'm driving over a bridge, and the NB>>>> guardrails and all keep me from being able to see much if anything NB>>>> of what is happening on the river or bay I'm crossing.... BM>>> Plus keeping an eye on the road! Guardrails and barriers are good for BM>>> somethings but bad for others. NB>>> But it's so much easier to keep an eye on the road if one doesn't NB>>> have to strain to see over guardrails and barriers..... ;) BM>> True, though contrary to that thought was some of the barriers were BM>> decorated. NB>> Some of the new barriers along the construction on the highway near us NB>> have bas-relief sculptures of the Erie Canal boats and horses, and NB>> similar scenes.... but maybe that's to make up for not being able to NB>> see the canal any more... :) BM> Possibly! NB> And less detail, so one's attention doesn't have to be distracted NB> for as long, I guess.... ;) As long as not the opposite: It's around here some place! BM>> Yea!! Always good to have an extra lane, especially to provide an BM>> orderly flow of traffic. Some years back they added part of a BM>> cloverleaf to the 53rd St.and I-74 Interchange, which also added some BM>> lanes to 53rd St. which is a new shopping area (numerous strip malls BM>> as well as medical facilities). Part of the old was a light to turn BM>> left and use the same entrance to I-74 as the on-coming lane. New is a BM>> right-turn cloverleaf and a new entrance to I-74. On-coming still BM>> uses the original but the traffic lights have been removed so no BM>> traffic stoppage. So like your highway project ended up much safer and BM>> efficient. NB>> Nice when that happens... :) BM> Yes. And it seems though a modern traffic project the underplanning BM> mentioned previously for the interstate system did occur: for the 53rd BM> St. shopping district the original four lanes had to be increased. BM> The original access to I-74 made sense but with additional traffic BM> caused traffic backups. NB> Such a surprise... ;) But sometimes it is a little difficult to NB> extrapolate sufficiently.... Right. I don't think the overall area was planned to be so big: know one housing development was a comfortable distance away from the original stores to allow for business area expansion but now they're surrounded. BM>>> Some houses and maybe businesses along the River in low-lying area BM>>> have some sort of a one-way ball valve in their sewer line: allows BM>>> sewerage to flow to the street lines but not the other way in to the BM>>> house. Once in a while a news item about the valve failing and the BM>>> rather disgusting flooding of the basement. NB>>> That can happen... and flooding might make it more likely to fail, NB>>> with more pressure on it... :) BM>> Unfortunately right. IIRC one small brew pub that was flooded BM>> downtown lost $60,000 worth of equipment. That kind of number adds up BM>> quickly! NB>> Yup... unfortunately.... BM> And if it's the same one it just reopened last week. NB> If so, then that's a good thing for them... guess they were able NB> to get enough help to cover the losses and all... Yes. Plus they had to wait until the first batch of beer was ready -- no idea how long it takes. BM>>>> Well, there's always paper and pens here at the desk and yes I do make BM>>>> notes of things as they pop in. So far nothing even remotely BM>>>> brilliant for flood control. NB>>>> Oh, well... you never know, though... BM>>> I'm figuring more like a 99.9% chance I'll not come up with anything BM>>> but there's always that 0.1%! NB>>> Exactly... ;) BM>> And I'm still waiting for the 0.1%! NB>> Your couple of seconds of fame hang on your getting that... BM> Waiting to be added to the couple minute interview years and years ago BM> when I was booking a flight to visit my parents. NB> Oh, in that case, you've already had your time in the sun... So nothing to look forward to? There's a commercial for a local retirement/light nursing care facility; the usual 'heppy shots' of the residents playfully exercising, small hobby meetings, etc., etc. One shot of an older couple: (he) "I like because" statement. (she) "No, it's because of the shopping trips!" (he, annoyed) "Have it your way!" (off-camera laughter). Not sure if this is a goof/outtake they decided to use but it is rather good. :) NB>> ... 54% of all statistics are made up. No, make that 82%. BM> Just like some of those in the previous portion! NB> Well, yes... ;) And so it will become known as correct! ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... This is as bad as it can get...but don't bet on it. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .