[MikeMarney]

Originally Posted by NewJeffCT

Most of the money owed by the federal government is owed to either different parts of the federal government (Social Security is owed nearly $3 trillion, for example) or to the various state governments, government pension funds and the federal reserve. While Democrats complained about Bush borrowing from China and Republicans do the same about Obama, China "only" holds a little over $1 trillion of our debt, slightly more than Japan. Mutual Funds, Banks and Insurance companies hold more of our debt than China (over $1.5 trillion combined)

This is so true. But the China debt is not really known fully either and same goes for other countries involvements such as Saudi Arabia. What we don't realize is how important the arabs are for our economy. That's why the Bushes kept them so close.

[theguyfrompluto]

I dont know why they are rebuilding the whole 3 mile stretch. The only reason why there is so much traffic non-peak hours is because the right lane ends and creates a bottleneck. All they have to do is expand 84E from the ending lane to exit 25A. Same with 84W and traffic will flow, probably no traffic during rush hour. Danbury is worse than Waterbury.

[Konig1985]

I think China can build a high speed rail from one city to another with that kind of money

[eastmemphisguy]

This is about the same as what we spent on the War in Iraq every two days. I'm not familiar with the particulars of this project but I'd rather rebuild roads than blow people up.

[smackfu]

Originally Posted by theguyfrompluto

I dont know why they are rebuilding the whole 3 mile stretch. The only reason why there is so much traffic non-peak hours is because the right lane ends and creates a bottleneck. All they have to do is expand 84E from the ending lane to exit 25A. Same with 84W and traffic will flow, probably no traffic during rush hour. Danbury is worse than Waterbury.

Um, isn't that what they are doing? They are adding that missing lane from exit 23 to 25A.

[theguyfrompluto]

Originally Posted by smackfu

Um, isn't that what they are doing? They are adding that missing lane from exit 23 to 25A.

They are rebuilding the whole stretch of highway, not just the lane. They are mking that stretch straighter, rebuilding bridges, building pedestrian bridges, and moving the highway.

[Mike 75]

Wait, is John Rowland back in office?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

Wait, is John Rowland back in office?

No, but this project is a leftover from John Rowland's "Waterbury is the center of the universe" era. You can't compare building a highway across virgin land like the Route 7 Bypass or the road in Virginia. What costs a lot is maintaining traffic during construction and the number of bridges and structures required. The Waterbury project has a lot of traffic to maintain and a lot of bridges and walls. Plus they have to divert/realign a river so the price is going to be high. Jay

[JayCT]

Please return to the topic of the original discussion. JayCT, Moderator

[cats234]

I can only imagine the traffic this would cause during the construction phase. Another reason to avoid 84 for me