I have read a post on the net by another who claimed that Houston has construction surrounding the city at strategic points. He also claimed that if the concrete barriers at these locations were turned, that all major routes out of Houston could be blocked in a matter of minutes.

I filed that wild claim in my mind until today, when I heard on the radio that two major routes out of Rochester, NY...490 East and 490 West, would be reduced to two lanes to mount steel girders. I have seen these girders, and they sit right next to the road. It would take very little time to string them across the roadway and block egress from the downtown area.

Before I give too much credence to wild speculation, has anyone else heard of major construction at what would be strategic points in their city?

-- Copycat (sharondrake@worldnet.att.net), December 23, 1999

Answers

PS...They said the lanes would be reduced "for a couple of weeks."

-- Copycat (sharondrake@worldnet.att.net), December 23, 1999.

I don't know abut construction, but I do know that the City of Ocala, Fl 's first y2k purchases were street barricades and cones. This before the generators were purchased. Granted that in sleepy little city limits of Ocala, they are more likely to keep people out rather than in.

Taz

-- Taz (Tassi123@aol.com), December 24, 1999.

Most of the construction around the Detroit area was finished last fall, barriers are gone. They did start an emergency repair of 96 out of the city, though, that blocks the way out. Still, Detroit has LOTS of city streets out with very few 'choke points' like bridges. Trying to stop that egress would take a lot of people.

-- Gary S. (garys_2k@yahoo.com), December 24, 1999.

Most interstates now have big sign trusses that span the whole road, made of a box beam that would sure stop most vehicles. I guess if blocking the road were important, somebody could drop those in about five minutes with a cutting torch.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), December 24, 1999.