Why is Central Florida so Gung Ho on decorating bridges?

[roadman65]

All the bridges on I-4 lately have been adding aesthetics like spires on all of the crossings especially the Ultimate. Look to the right behind the overhead sign gantry.

To me it's junk and can save the tax payers lots of money. Yet all new projects along I-4 are including them.

[Max Rockatansky]

In Arizona ADOT attributed highway beautification as a deterrent to graffiti.  I find it hard to argue with the theory given how clean AZ 51 stayed post beautification.

[edwaleni]

All the bridges on I-4 lately have been adding aesthetics like spires on all of the crossings especially the Ultimate. Look to the right behind the overhead sign gantry.

To me it's junk and can save the tax payers lots of money. Yet all new projects along I-4 are including them.

Depends on how you view highways.

Strictly utilitarian, something in harmony with its surroundings, or something that reflects the nature of the city/neighborhood you are passing through.

There has been considerable column inches written on how stark much of US highways are due to their "slab and drab" nature. Many attribute this to the demand to only use the lowest bidder.

In design-build, the company called to design is always going to design to the cheapest way to meet the spec.

However much research has shown that attributes that you have highlighted here are such a small percentage of the overall bid, that their removal would have little to no savings relative to the cost of the entire project.

I have had discussions on the flip side with FDOT (and other DOT's) about *any* efforts to bring some level of local uniqueness to a design-build. My last convo was about the proposed design of the New Shands Bridge in Palatka over the St John's River. The response was that they wanted to use a common template to make bidding easier to compare and select. I asked why they couldn't simply update the bid requirements to include some attributes, and the response I got was similar to yours. "People will complain about wasting tax money" which is funny because it is a toll bridge!

When FDOT announced plans to widen the Fuller Warren Bridge over the St John's River, the City of Jacksonville asked if they could include a pedestrian component to it. FDOT moaned and complained that having it was expensive and would violate the interstate highway act and a bunch of other unfounded, uneducated excuses. But when pressed on it, it was found to cost so little relative to the project and of course it violated no rules at all, it was clear that FDOT District 1 just didn't want to listen or bother.

When the ISTHA was designing the I-355 Bridge over the Des Plaines River valley, it was originally going to be this beautiful cable stayed span as it crossed the river, a canal, several railroads and highways before reaching the south bank. But a new political appointee to ISTHA got a burr in his saddle about it because he said it "wouldnt get its money back". They then went to a design-build with a inconsequential "gateway marker" requirement, and this is what they got.....



Which is a joke. No one will notice it or know why it exists. Does the bridge work, of course it does. Does anyone care why it was named? No, of course not because there is nothing to remember it by. An opportunity to create a bridge memorializing veterans could have been something everyone would remember instead Illinois got a bridge that essentially says "veterans aren't special, they were a utility to keep our lives from being bothered".

I told the FDOT guy they could have designed a memorable gateway type bridge on the St Johns, just use a different template of many available. He wasn't interested.

[english si]

In Arizona ADOT attributed highway beautification as a deterrent to graffiti.  I find it hard to argue with the theory given how clean AZ 51 stayed post beautification.

I'm pretty sure this is based in how making a graffiti mural stops tags. It's more that they won't destroy another's work without a strong reason to do so. Even in my town, where there's a load of public paintings that are definitely not to a graffito's taste, they might tag on the utility box, or the same wall, but never on the artwork.

As to why make things look nice - why ever not? It's a fraction of the cost and worth a lot more than incremental cost to make something look nice.