Muh Roads!

Don’t you just love it when Proud Party Progs ask about who would build the roads without socialism? Let’s look at what one Ms. Ellen McPhretes had to say on the issue:

I’ll have more to add later about the glorious comments of Ellen, but for now lets talk about roads maintained by the government. In case you haven’t heard, the El Niño Southern Oscillation is bringing some heavy rainstorms to North America. San Diego (along with the rest of Southern California) doesn’t seem to deal very well with rain. I happen to live in the Midway District and was greeted with a couple feet of water on Midway Drive due to a storm that dropped a half inch of rain.

I just can’t be impressed enough with the job that the City of San Diego is doing with the roads; it’s another shining example of government efficiency. Compared to many other roads in San Diego though, Midway wasn’t that bad and at least passable in a truck with decent ground clearance. Miramar Road and Kearny Mesa Boulevard were covered in four feet at some spots.

One of the big reasons that San Diego floods so easy are poorly maintained storm drains. According to the City News Service:

“The City Council’s Environment Committee Wednesday unanimously called for the city of San Diego to declare a state of emergency to help get storm channels cleared before the brunt of El Niño storms arrive.

The committee members pointed to Tuesday night’s lightning-punctuated rainfall as an example of what this winter’s climate conditions might bring. According to the National Weather Service, 1.09 inches of rain fell at Lindbergh Field, a record for the date and already surpassing the November average.

Because of environmental concerns, it’s a laborious process for San Diego to acquire the permits needed to remove vegetation and debris from the city’s 133 miles of storm channels. At a news conference before the committee meeting, Councilman David Alvarez said the State Regional Water Board can take two years to process permit applications for scheduled storm channel maintenance.”

Two years to receive permission to clear some garbage, plants, and animals from storm drains. The Democratic People’s Republic of Kalifornia (DPRK) has some amazing laws doesn’t it?

“In emergency situations, such as when a major storm is imminent, the city can go to the Army Corps of Engineers to get the necessary permits, the councilman said. However, that has to happen a few days before a storm hits.

He said an emergency declaration could help the city obtain a blanket permit to clear out the most clogged channels well in advance of dangerous storms.”

This just keeps getting better and better. Can’t risk killing a random animal right?

“David Gibson of the water board said the governor is considering such a declaration, but it’s unknown when it would be issued. He said the agency has expedited city requests in the past and invited San Diego officials to submit permit applications.

The proposed emergency declaration was met with some reluctance from the mayor’s office because of previous litigation.

‘Five years ago, the city declared a state of emergency to clear the Tijuana River Valley and was sued, resulting in years of litigation that postponed maintenance work,’ mayoral spokesman Matt Awbrey said.

‘Doing so again could open up taxpayers to more lawsuits, fines and actually end up delaying work further,’ Awbrey said. ‘We are unable to move faster than state and federal regulations will allow, so the mayor is asking regulators for relief so we can take all necessary actions to prepare San Diego in the event of an El Niño storm event.’

Alvarez and committee member Marti Emerald said the city might get sued, and lose, but in the meantime would be protecting property.”

There’s no winning for San Diego; if you clean the storm drains you get sued by the DPRK and lose. If you don’t clean the drains, there’s millions in property damage. Maybe by the time the next El Niño hits the clogged stormed drains will be clear? The drains that are currently clear will probably be clogged though. With the way that the DPRK is currently going I’m pretty certain the only way to win is to leave the state.

The storm drains and roads may function properly during rain storms at the same time that the water infrastructure is upgraded and repaired.