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Kammy,

In the 1960's and 70's, members of the General Assembly and municipal councils across RI who were bought and paid for by the organized crime-owned construction companies sold the narrative that private contractors would cut municipal costs by eliminating construction workers and equipment from the bottom line. Fast-forward 40+ years and we have "highway departments" that can hardly cold-patch a pothole, and plowing is done more and more by private contractors.

The goal was to make the private construction contractors the sole provider, which they now are. When they are the only game in town, they can charge what they want and get away with it, and you'd better believe there's collusion at the highest Government levels.

In any other business, Estimators who were that far off on the cost of a project would be fired (and probably hired by RI's Finance Director).

A couple of my favorite examples are the Greenwood Bridge and the Broadway Bridge near Olneyville in Providence- where else does it take three years to build a bridge that was already there?

It's incredible when you realize it only took four years to build the Golden Gate Bridge.