However, the Thruway's efforts hit a roadblock last week when the head of the company that produced the poll, Zogby International, told the Journal News that he regretted the way the question was phrased and felt it was unduly leading towards replacement.

It would be hard for anyone to find the following "question," three-quarters of which is a statement, objective: "The Governor's I-287 Task Force says the cost to repair the bridge over the next 12 years is roughly equivalent to the cost of replacing the bridge. Many of the repairs would require closing lanes, with resulting congestion and delay. The results after 12 years of repairs would be a structure that could not support existing traffic patterns due to construction. Would you agree that the bridge should be repaired in stages over the next 12 years or be completely replaced?"

Besides its central fiction that replacement of the Bridge would occur "now" rather than after at least a decade of study and construction, the question also fails to explain why the existing bridge "could not support existing traffic patterns," and how traffic patterns and levels are largely the result of specific policy and planning choices.