Why did a February 11th email from Wilbur Smith Associates to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet point out that the organization “buried” the use of “8664″ language?
From: Bostrom, Niels R. [rbostrom@wilbursmith.com]
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 11:59 AM
To: Thomson, Scott (KYTC)
Cc: Sorenson, Timothy P
Subject: Kennedy Interchange Area Study (Letter Agreement #2)
Hi’ Scott,Thanks for the quick turn around on the paperwork associated with this study. I have changed the names of our scope and fee proposal to reflect the name: Kennedy Interchange Area Study along with the title and title blocks in the file contents. Please note that I retained the use of 8664 in the description of the actual scenario buried deeper in the description since that is vital to the understanding of the work.
Regards,
Rob Bostrom, PE
National Practice Leader for Travel Demand Modeling
Wilbur Smith Associates
And why would Wilbur Smith even bother retaining the 8664 language, albeit “buried,” if the study wasn’t all about the 8664 proposal, as the company claimed today?
8664 had claimed that the state had been studying its proposal. However, an official with engineering consultant Wilbur Smith Associates of Lexington said the analysis focused on two bridges, a redesigned Spaghetti Junction and turning Interstate 64 into a surface-level parkway downtown.
Who in their right mind believes Chuck Wolfe of the Transportation Cabinet when he spins about what went down yesterday?
“He’ll go ahead and have it done and we’ll see what it says,” Wolfe said.
8664 opposes a downtown bridge. It believes its plan would reconnect downtown to the Ohio River and lead to “enormous economic and quality of life benefits.”
Documents obtained by 8664 show that Wilbur Smith completed 93 percent of its work under a contract worth $49,922 before the state notified it to stop.
Why on earth would the Transportation Cabinet kill a project that was 93% complete? The only thing that remained at that point was getting a check cleared. What did the Transportation Cabinet have to hide?
Who really believes the study wasn’t complete eight days before the scheduled completion date? Language in the Feb 11th email above would lead anyone reading it to believe that the study was, in fact, complete and in the process of being edited.
Is it suspicious that the two men who pushed for the 8664 study would resign over something less than scandalous? Or are we reading between the lines a little too much? And if we’re reading a little too much between the lines, why did the Transportation Cabinet lie about Gilbert Newman’s statement?
So many questions, so much horse shiz to be shoveled.
Finally, Chuck Wolfe didn’t call us to freak out yesterday. KYTC must have been busy trying to come up with their spin? (Reference: He called within five minutes of a story we published about a month ago in a CYA attempt for KYTC.)
4 responses so far ↓
1 Diamonds on the soles of my loafers // Aug 26, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Is the Transportation Cabinet the most corrupt bunch of people in the world or just North America?
Is Prather just admitting that this study would have been tucked away forever if 8664 hadn’t called them on it? I guess $50,000 is chump change to the fellas at Trans Mahal.
2 Steve Magruder (I, not D or R) // Aug 27, 2008 at 1:51 am
I want to see what my tax dollars paid for. NOW, KYTC!
3 Republican gadfly // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:14 pm
This wouldn’t be the first time that a study has been terminated while in progress. I heard last week of some sort of study on a project that would replace a bridge and build a couple of miles of road between an east-central Republican county and a Bluegrass county with an interstate running through it. This area has a history of fatal accidents. Some money had already been paid to a consultant and the project was terminated.
With this “Practical Solutions” program they are implementing, the bridges project will come under scrutiny as well and sounds like 8664 can get an evaluation under that context. However, since the feds have signed off on the plan and any major changes (such as ripping up an interstate and not building a second downtown bridge) would result in the whole thing having to start over, it’s not going anywhere. There might be some scaling back of the design (from 23 lanes to 14 maybe) but the concept of a second bridge and I-64 staying put will remain as planned.
4 jake // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Hrm.
All of polite society in Louisville say that NO bridge will be built.
And sources throughout the Beshear Administration echo the same thing.
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