Michael Henry: Pelandale overpass too glitzy and the lights are a mess

Congrats to the city of Modesto and CalTrans for wrapping up construction of that glitzy new Pelandale Road bridge. I’m sure it was money well spent. I drive under this money pit every morning and noticed that they recently turned on the accent lighting on the bridge face. Just one problem. About 10 percent of these needless lights are already not working. Another 10 percent only have half the output. Another 10 percent shine diagonally instead of vertically. There’s some competence.

Certainly the money wasted on this subpar lighting effect couldn’t have been used to fill a few potholes or perhaps fix some sidewalks. No, that’s what responsible leaders would have done. So who’s going to make sure these fancy lights that don’t work get fixed? Ultimately, the taxpayers will. Want to know why 28 percent of the populace voted against Measure L? There’s your answer. Now, moving forward, we can only hope that you will spend our Measure L funds responsibly and leave such fluff out. Perhaps I ask too much. Function over form. Keep that in mind.

This story was originally published December 8, 2016 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Michael Henry: Pelandale overpass too glitzy and the lights are a mess."