Under the river and through the woods...

Yeah, I know that isn't the correct lyrics. But eventually (2011, maybe?) you'll be able to say that here in Pittsburgh, that is, if your grandmother lives on the North "Shore".

This is all due to the North Shore Connector, a huge PAT project that recently got under way. Yes, the same people who are cutting 60% of their bus routes due to a financial deficit are also working on an underwater tunnel for subway cars that will service one of the least busy areas of town.

Yeah, re-read that again really slow and see if you catch it this time.

No? Well, I didn't think so. No matter how slow you read it, it never makes sense.

"But the federal government is paying for 80% of it" is the biggest defense.

And that doesn't matter. 20% (which is PAT's contribution) of hundreds of millions is. . . Well, more millions than PAT has.

But that isn't what I am writing about today. That is just the background. The real point of this is the flooding that occurred on all three rivers this week. Which happens. Actually pretty often.

OK, so it is a little unusual for it to happen in January, but it has been a mild winter. But it certainly is not unheard of to happen now. And we all know it happens. Regularly.

What do the flooding and the North Shore Connector have to do with each other? Well, the Connector is in it's second, maybe third week of construction, which will likely last years. And the construction site flooded. Yep, three weeks in and construction was shut down for a flood.

So, over the years that it is going to take for this thing to get built, how many times is work going to be halted for flooding? How far will it push back the completion date? How far will it take it over budget?

Are we really sure this is a good idea? Really?