First off, like most government funding, CTEP is CTEP and other programs are other programs and never the twain shall meet. In other words, no matter how much we’d rather the jail be on the north side or how much we’d rather an intersection be improved, the $100,000 spent on this project was never going to be spent on those things, so we’re talking apples and oranges. What CTEP really is is a sub-program of those massive highway funding programs that occasionally get through Congress, and if memory serves, it grew out of an attempt to make up for all the gravel-and-cement outrages of the 60s and 70s. I’m not defending it so much as pointing out what it is: a mixture of pork and PR.

As for the cost, that’s not surprising at all. In my assocation with that beautification group, we entered into a joint project with the River’s Edge Trail. We bought and planted some trees and flowers along a one-eighth-mile stretch of the trail, and it cost $1,500! And that was with discounts! Looking at the sign, I see landscaping, design, electricity (someone had to run a wire for the lights, and that means running conduit under the street and setting up a service), and masonry. Add in those nice governmental mandates for all the contractors involved in a highway project –Davis-Bacon wages (about $19.00 an hour!), OSHA oversight, a mountain of paperwork, and extremely strict environmental regulations– and you’ll get to $100,000 pretty quickly.

And suicyde, I imagine there’ll be a new and improved entrance sign on the east side within a couple of years.