• Here’s a great video of ultra-fast track concrete paving, simulated here in a parking lot by the American Concrete Paving Association, Maryland Ready Mix Concrete Association and the State Highway Administration. (ConcreteForMaryland)
• The good news: The tar balls found in Key West are not related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Coast Guard. The bad news: There are twenty tar balls washing up on a beach in Southern Florida. (AFP)
• Matthew Yglesias asks, “What if they gave a terrorist attack and nobody noticed?” (ThinkProgress)
• A Q&A with the Talking Heads frontman David Byrne on bicycling, the suburbs, and urban development. (Creative Loafing)
• Potential bad news for Maryland: Republican Bob Ehrlich, running for governor, would scrap the Red and Purple Lines if he makes it into office. (BaltimoreSun)
May 19th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
I think I know that parking lot!! I believe it is the ‘parking lot’ at the end of I-70 just inside the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) If so it is a good test. That ‘parking lot’ was actually built as the travel lanes for I-70 when the plan was for I-70 to extend through Leakin Park and connect to I-95 and I-83 in Baltimore (plans back in the 50s-60s). So the pavement was built to genuine Heavyduty Highway standards in the first place and has seen many years of traffic by commuters cars and buses since then
May 19th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
What a lame cheap shot against Ehrlich! Why the dishonesty? Quote from the linked article:
Ehrlich told the group he go back to his plan for high-speed buses on the Purple Line in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and be “open to ideas” about Baltimore’s Red Line. He said he would prefer to spend the money on the MARC commuter rail system and the Washington Metro — not on these new light rail lines.
He wants to reallocate mass transit funds to different mass transit projects. Your dishonest item implies that he’s simply looking to eliminate some transit goodies. We understand that you have a point of view, but why so cagey?
Anyone would be better than O’Malley. About a year ago a truck driver plunged to his death of the Chesapeak Bay Bridge. The Bridge no longer adequately serves the traffic it bears, and one span had two-way traffic imposed. A driver swerved head on into the truck which plunged into the bay below. The poor man lost his life. O”Malley was ok with keeping the bridge as is on the grounds that keeping the span narrow will supress growth on the eastern shore. That’s one sick puppy. Cast your votes for him proudly my little greenies.
May 19th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Good information. I’ll be casting my vote for O’Malley.
May 19th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
I think that makes sense, after all that truck driver should have been on the light rail anyway with his cargo. What’s a little death and delay if it leads to responsible land use planning anyway? You want an omlette, you have to break some eggs. Am I quoting LaHood, Mao, the Infrastructurist? I can’t remember, it’s really all the same.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
am i the only one who’s noticing this in the video? that is THE MOST workers i’ve ever seen on a road construction site (and i’ve seen some big/expensive ones living in central florida). think they could finish the widening that’s been going on a mile from my house for the past six months?
May 20th, 2010 at 12:06 am
Meh. The choice in Maryland is between Carcetti and a Republican so bad that even The Wire only mentions him off-screen.
May 20th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
You know, I imagine any monkey could figure out how to speed up just about any job if they had a couple hundred workers on the job.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Yes, at some point, you have to prioritize.