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The cost of a grocery store parking lot being closed can be easily quantified in terms of lost sales, while the cost of closing a short street or walkway is not
by jonas21 4y ago
The cost of a grocery store parking lot being closed can be easily quantified in terms of lost sales, while the cost of closing a short street or walkway is not as well-defined, and the cost is not borne by those in charge of the construction anyhow. So in the former, there's a clear and measurable incentive to get things done quickly, and in the latter, there's not.
- Robotbeat 4y agoAbsolutely, and added on to this is that cost is fairly proportional to labor hours (plus cost of rental equipment), so if it takes a lot longer to get done, it’s probably also costing a lot more money.
- dkarl 4y agoI don't know much about public works, but when you're hiring trades and subs for small residential projects, you pay extra to know they're going to show up and work on your project until it's done. If you want to minimize costs, you have to accept that it may be slow. They say they'll start on Tuesday, and they actually show up Friday. They do two days of a four day job, and then they disappear for a week. It's not because they're lazy. It's because they have different projects that are more or less lucrative to work on, and they generally prioritize the more lucrative ones.
- johannes1234321 4y agoAlso: below pavements there are usually quite a lot supply lines as that's the only available space. All work there has to be done careful not to damage anything. On a larger parking lot however there is just a single power line for the lights and little sewage for collecting rain water, while most other area is free.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- londons_explore 4y agoIn many cases, taking longer to do work costs more. Especially when things like equipment, cones and barriers are being rented at high daily rates for months while work is practically at a standstill.
- LanceH 4y agoSo my city runs along a highway. They did construction, closing 5 of the 7 north-south roads crossing that highway at the same time. It was either incredibly stupid, or a brilliant move to build a habit of doing everything local.
- asdff 4y agoThere's probably a good reason for it. Highway closures are always planned to have the least impacts possible. A lot of caltrans work happens on weekends or at 2am as such.