Rickety bridge to Long Island shut

ˈvāgrənt| noun
a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging.

While it may have a negative connotation, technically the term is correct. Also, the Copley Fountain is super sketchy at night , and the BPL steps behind Copley Station reek of piss all day, everyday. Having worked in the Back Bay for years and seeing many of the "regulars," I can say that many of them are just down on their luck people who are doing what they can to get by without harassing people or causing problems, but there are quite a few who are extremely pushy and rude, and could care less about still being part of society.

I'd say both the literal and bastardized definition of vagrant could apply here.

Adam is right.

A company I used to work for used to run the (or wanted to run) the program on Long Island, and the hook is that whoever runs the program is responsible for maintaining the bridge. Which is why VF didn't want to run it because it would have cost too much $ to fix the bridge due to the weight constraints.

That money will vanish into the general fund and will never be spent on roadways.

The business community supports the gas tax index. They know how essential transportation is to commerce.

I didn't realize that the business community had united to support the gas tax. Or is it just those businessmen who brought you watered down Big Dig cement, false weights of asphalt, faulty ceiling tiles and fasteners, guard rails that were cutting motorcyclists to pieces on contact, billions of gallons of saltwater pouring in? I don't think any business that relies on truck deliveries (almost all do) want an increased gas tax to pass along to consumers.

Vote Yes on Question One to repeal perpetual increases in the gas tax. If you are naive enough to think the money will be used for roadwork, I have a rusty bridge to sell you. The bridges will still be falling down as hundreds of more supervisors, Superintendents, Assistant Deputy Commissioners, Deputies to the Assistants etc. with six-figure salaries and pensions are added to "supervise" the roadwork.

As for who owns and maintains the Long Island Bridge, you're wrong. Adam corrects you below. If any state funding is used, it's via regular local aid that helps maintain all Boston roads or by special earmark. Regard the piers, the old ones washed out to sea due to lack of maintenance. The only ones that are maintained are brand new at luxurious Camp Menino, a Nantucket style compound funded in part by "the business community" you speak of. Out of the goodness of their hearts, no doubt.

I have been over the Long Island bridge exactly once, and it was completely terrifying. In a car. I can only imagine what it would be like with bus loads of people.

I haven't heard the same scuttlebutt as you, but my perception was that the bridge was not a high priority for most City Hall workers. This is based purely on hearing comments about the state of the bridge that sounded something like "Oh well, that bridge is falling down but there is nothing we can do about it."

Are you kidding? Who would want to be responsible for the passengers, boarding ect. and in transit? Man Overboard , for sure !