It's somewhat strange to me that they have this whole article, but is't mostly just excuses for types of problems that just come from USA's perspective and actions on infrastructure... You don't see the same excuses in other places. They either fix the problem, or admit that it's not organised well enough, yet this article does neither. (as far as I understood from the text)
Interesting. For me it was eye-opening because I had naïvely assumed all the construction was either for road repairs, or to build new subways; not the utility companies cutting up the road:
> But unlike Paris or Tokyo, where tubes and wires are usually bundled inside a cavernous sewer system or tucked underneath sidewalks, much of New York’s underground infrastructure lies within five feet of the asphalt surface.
> Last year, the [transportation department] issued 223,271 permits, about half of them to utility companies.
What do you propose that they do, though? Ideally we'd build a utility-only tunnel like Paris or Tokyo, but there's no space. You have the subway further underneath, and the sidewalks have basements.
Without a massive overhaul requiring eminent domain or a fire, the only solutions are better construction techniques, which they're looking into.
I always thought an elevated road like computer flooring for access. It would be a massive project, you'd have to step up to cross the street, and you'd still need access to the road below for the older, unmovable stuff. Either way, not happening, too much scope.
It falls back on evolving into something like the movie 'Brazil' with all of the ductwork ;)
this is essentially the story you will hear on the "Seattle Underground" tour. Instead of raising the city like they did in Chicago[0], Seattle built taller streets[1].
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