Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Peoria, Illinois - All-American Rumble City

Possible the worst streets, curbs, etc., in the nation. And the problem is that they will remain that way. Why? Not enough money ($200 million finally DEMANDED of Peoria by the EPA to remedy the dumping of billions of gallons of untreated waste in the Illinois River). One major example plus many others. Also slower productivity by the workers. (New hires in this highly public unionized city are told not to "show the others workers up by working at full speed, or else")

Each year, some repairs and replacements are made while the same number of other sites are deteriorating. Many State of Illinois highways share the same sorry situation. When you drive the north-south road thru downtown E. Peoria, look, but don't hit. the crumbling curbs and imagine how many tires were and  are damaged when these curbs are covered with snow. And this is just one example.

Plus the State of Illinois is well on the road to going broke. If I were in business today, I would not sell to the state as it would probably take me years, unless I was politically connected, to get my invoices paid. It may not be many years before the same will be true of the City and County. Chicago is near the point of the sorry situation in Detroit.

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