One of the comments the other day made reference to the egg-beaters on I-10 out by the airport.
Aren’t they supposed to twirl?
There is a video of them spinning at the bottom of this web page.
Does anyone know the story here?
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
“Should” spin . . . except during high winds, then a locking mechanism . . . locks them down. Otherwise, they are there to cause distractions to traffic and cause wrecks.
And this is just a few travel seconds Eastbound, past “The Big Dangerous Curve” passing by Bassett Center, where the curve causes a wreck every week.
The CITY KNEW Lighted Billboards could be/ and ARE a distraction to drivers on I-10, and then they put the Spinning Distraction.
The only way to appreciate the full effect of the Spinning Distraction is to be going 70 mph in 3 lanes of heavy traffic at 5pm.
The cars / drivers/ BELOW the Spinning Distraction, on Airway also LOOK UP . . and see it and it causes a distraction and wrecks on Airway Blvd.
So, yeah, it’s “Multi-purpose”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL…….Mostly, I ignore them, but I did notice recently, while traveling west on I-10, with some visitors from Mexico, they saw them (stationary, by the way) and wanted to know what they are. So, yeah, they are pretty dumb, and yet another example of tax dollars pissed away.
LikeLike
The not-so affectionately called “eggbeaters” are a bad example of kinetic city art on a large scale. The artist sold City leaders on the concept that the spinning motion would create the energy necessary to light them from what i’ve heard. Similar to wind farms but a little more artsy.
It was reported in the EPTimes that they have broken (maybe just one or two) but they have stopped the spinning motion because the parts needed are no longer available from the company that fabricated them. The company no longer exists. The parts are now made in China but way too expensive.
City leaders should refrain from greenlighting any kind of kinetic or water type sculptures and projects. They will eventually break down or be shut down due to operating costs.
Let’s see how long these public water parks last before they get shut down. Great parks and families love them, but this is El Paso.
LikeLike
$7 million would pay for a lot of street repairs.
LikeLike
How is the million dollar wall of history doing, that center piece of the QoL? Is it still working? Does anyone care?
LikeLike
The great wall that is the main attraction in the Hunt Family Pavilion named for the Hunts for all they have given to El Paso. I guess giving them a ballpark during that same time wasn’t enough.
This article from last year might make you vomit.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/el-paso/2017/02/14/museum-digital-wall-pavilion-honors-hunt-family/97907732/
What the city said two years ago:
“This really is an opportunity to showcase what makes El Paso so great,” said Martin Bartlett, public affairs coordinator. “We all know it, now we get to show it off not only to visitors to El Paso, but to other similar walls around the world.”
We ALL knew it? Bartlett’s mama apparently didn’t teach him about the pitfalls of showing off.
LikeLike
Notice the huge crowds lined up in that photo to visit the wall. Whoops, not a single person is there.
LikeLike
The Non-Spinners on Airways/I-10 are the best way to guide people to and from the EP Airport because there a very few other road signs…
LikeLike
$7 mil for directional signs. That’s El Paso.
LikeLike
El Paso is full of ugly art courtesy of a city art department that is trying to show they understand good art but that their constituents are too uneducated to “get it,” I support public art but some of the art the city has installed is just plain ugly. There should be a theme — such as the southwest or the Sun or the multi-colored Mexican art. Visit Phoenix / Scottsdale, for example, where there is public art on nearly every corner, all of it with a desert / Indian theme. They have not installed anything as stupid as those things at Airway or the “cloud” at UTEP. El Paso’s public art goes from impressionistic to traditional and to “what the hell is that?” I try not to take visitors past the Airway art to avoid their comments and snickering.
LikeLike
oh but they are so colorful after dusk…If they don’t spin, then they don’t generate their own power, then are we paying that electric bill?
LikeLike