DOT regrets Whittlesey delays

Georgia DOT begins hundreds of millions of dollars in new transportation projects each year. While multi-year transportation projects can be complicated, most do not result in significant delays in completion.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the reconstruction and widening project on Whittlesey Road in Columbus.

This is in response to the April 27 letter to the editor regarding significant delays on this project. Georgia DOT agrees that the project has been going on for way too long and has inconvenienced the public and the community.

The project began in a timely manner. The contractor, McMath-Turner Construction Company (MTCC), received notice to proceed in July 2012; work began one month later; and the anticipated completion date was April 30, 2015.

For this project, one section was delayed due to utility relocation issues. Utility relocation activities were completed in July 2015; the project is currently 60 percent complete.

First, we apologize for the inconvenience and the delays experienced by the traveling public. Second, we are accountable to you and we are working aggressively with the contractor to correct the issues and to complete the project. Third, we are working within the legal limits of our contract and have withheld payments from the contractor for several months to secure a more timely schedule. And last, we have taken every measure to ensure increased activity on the project going forward to completion.

Looking ahead, a new project on Talbotton Road will include a financial incentive for the contractor to complete the project on time.

Georgia DOT ensures transparency in all of our activities. As more information is available, including status updates, we will keep the public informed.

Transparency?

Although President Obama's staff continually marketed itself as the most transparent administration in history, it has clearly become the most insolent.

From Jonathan Gruber, the MIT professor who admitted the administration went through tortuous measures to keep the critical facts about the cost of the ACA hidden from the public, to Secretary Clinton keeping her official emails outside of government control, to the revelation by Mr. Benjamin Rhodes, Deputy National Security Adviser, that he and his team misled the press about the timeline of the Iran deal and more importantly that the negotiations were with a moderate faction of the government (which begs the question of what exactly is a moderate Iranian government official), all three came to light because they were/are arrogant and vain. And all because the press was lulled into complacency by the belief in the assurance of openness.

If there is any doubt as to the lack of openness, search for how many FOIA requests are pending with the administration. And is this behavior part of the impetus behind Mr. Trump's rise, i.e., a backlash to the arrogance of the current Administration?

Word police

How distressing it must be for our older folks to realize that the meanings of words have been altered by those who may never have checked a dictionary.

Words like Racist, Bigot and Hater are said with such conviction by those who don't understand their original meanings. For example, a "racist" used to mean someone who was unfairly intolerant of another race.

Now, however, the term "racist" has devolved to include anyone who doesn't agree with the opinions or values of another group, no matter how valid the concern.

A "bigot" is a person who regards, or treats, members of a certain group with hatred and intolerance just because they are different.. But now, it is used to deride a person, even with valid observations, if they are directed, in the slightest, at another group.

Some are accused of "hate speech" regardless if they have ever said they hated anything. If a person ever correctly comments on a particular problem within another group, he is labeled a "hater" by the word police.

As I sit back and observe the deteriorating values and the increasing level of stupidity, lack of knowledge and incompetence in this country, I shake my head and feel fortunate to have grown up in a different time.

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 1:53 PM with the headline "DOT regrets Whittlesey delays."