Snail’s Pace Defies History

Progress on freeway construction is well nigh imperceptible, which is no mystery to daily commuters. Nobody’s working!

The maddening single traffic lanes next to the Costa Mesa Freeway extension afford the motorist ample time to study the work force . . . three men solemnly contemplating a hole and a pickup raising a cloud of dust.

Why does it take longer to complete a freeway bridge today than it did to build the Empire State Building 60 years ago? Despite having to barge material daily from New Jersey to the congested Manhattan site and despite the adverse elements, the revolutionary construction and many design changes, the 1,250-foot-tall structure was completed in 13 1/2 months, 13 days ahead of schedule and 18% under budget, on a five-day workweek with no overtime.

Contrasted with the building of the Empire State Building--from its 62,000 cubic yards of reinforced concrete to its 7 miles of elevator shafts--the freeway extension is a weekend family project. Why was it necessary to begin work on every freeway project at the same time rather than concentrating the available resources on one contiguous project, completing it, then moving on to the next?

While the public doesn’t expect tax-supported bureaucracies to approach the level of efficiency and proficiency demanded in the private sector, it does expect a modicum of common sense and consideration.

WILLIAM J. McGEE, Newport Beach