A recent cartoon in the
Charlotte Observer by
Kevin Seirs suggested that those who believe Charlotte should attack congestion with roads rather than light rail are the intellectual equivalent of hump-backed Cro-Magnons.
But a look across the country calls into question exactly who it is that is small-minded and decades behind the times. While Charlotte's leaders smugly embrace the early-1990s mantra that congestion cannot be solved with more asphalt, leaders in other cities are laying mile after mile of asphalt with the radical goal of getting workers to work faster.
In
this exciting article, the magazine
City Journal catalogs project after project in more progressive cities and states than this one. Yet so far, there's no real push here to even consider privately built and run HOT lanes were drivers could pay more to zoom by congestion. City leaders still refuse to add road lanes in any other form than HOV lanes, which are underutilized by the politically correct carpoolers they were supposed to attract.
By 2030, the number of drivers on I-77 will more than double from 77,000 today to nearly 200,000. Local leaders' plan? Build a $470 million light rail line to the north of the county that will eventually transport 4,600 riders a day. Meanwhile, as the
Charlotte Observer campaigns for new taxes to pay for billions in city and state road needs, leaders in other states and cities are reaping billions by letting private companies build them new interstates and expressways. In many instances, it doesn't cost taxpayers a dime.
Right now it takes an average of 30 percent longer to reach a destination in Charlotte during rush hour than it does at other times of the day, according to a measure commonly used by the Texas Transportation Institute.
David Hartgen, a retired UNCC professor of transportation studies, expects that number to climb to 60 percent over the next 30 years. That's 15 to 20 percent higher than Atlanta's current congestion level, which is the fourth worst in the nation.
Hartgen has studied the congestion problem and says if this region wanted to, it could make a serious dent in its congestion problems by building 1,070 lane miles of new highway capacity that would be spread out among sections of I-485, I-77, US-74 and other urban arterials. He believes it would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 billion over 25 years. As
City Journal reported, that money is laying on the corporate table, waiting for Charlotte to grab it before some other city does.
The funny thing is, the lite rail will most likely fill up with illegal's and low income ppl with government issued passes. Has anyone asked how many free rides will be issued each year? Then once the little urbanites take over the rail, this will discourage paying fare riders.
Beautiful plan, I must say so.
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The HOV lanes are ridiculous. It's like some game the government is playing: "Sure you can have another lane, but you can't use it (unless there's someone with you)."
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Tara:
I don't think its a bad idea to expand I-485 (which should be 8 lanes all around), I-77 (which should be 8 lanes from SC State Line to Uptown), I-85 (though it might be maxed out now being 8 lanes from county line to county line), and US 74 (though it would take an act of God to persuade the NC Legislature to spend several hundred millions here at one time to finish up the Independence Freeway project in one big rush). But once these freeways have been expanded, will congestion really be any better?
I mean look at DC/Northern Virginia & Atlanta. They've spent billions of dollars on expanding & building freeways over the last 30 years. Yes, its helping move traffic around but still, you have massive traffic problems. Folks are moving further & further out from the downtown & immediate suburb areas, which increase commute times (see Gwinnett County, GA & Fredricksburg, VA area as examples). But at least these 2 areas do have a subway system to help move people around town. In Atlanta & DC, having a mass transit system in place does give people the option of N-O-T having to drive everywhere (though DC has a much more extensive subway system, thus it makes it much easier to get around town vs. Atlanta).
You state that Atlanta has the 4th worst congestion in the country, right? So how are they going to attack it? Expand MARTA? Nope, more roads!!!!!!! Hmmmm, hasn't that been tried in Southern California for the last 50 years? How has that worked?
Maybe Charlotte is being smart by jumping ahead of the curve and say 'Hey, lets go ahead and get a light-rail system built now' vs. waiting 20 years and after I-485/I-77/I-85/US 74 have been widened & expanded and traffic has gotten much worse, then we decide to look at mass transit. Yessssssss, only a small percentage may ride it, but at least a decent mass transit system will give folks an alternative to work vs. driving all around town
PS-To the HOV Lane Haters: What's wrong with having HOV lanes? To me, Its better to have 2 lanes of an 8 lane freeway moving vs. having all 8 lanes not moving at all!!!!! I do think the HOV lanes on Independence need to be opened up to all traffic; How come they were never converted to their intended use?
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How long will it take before Charlotte and the Carolinas figure it out? We need Road Improvement and Expansion Now. Fix the Roads and the Schools and Keep Taxes Lower than our neighbors from the North and West. Good luck !!
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What I find amazing is that city officials claim to need to spend billions on transit because of congestion, while at the same time giving subsidies to build attractions downtown, such as Bobcats Arena, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and now a new baseball stadium, exactly to attract growth to central Charlotte. Am I the only one who thinks that they are trying to play both sides on this? On the other hand, the logical connection falls into place if you think of the plan as an effort to subsidize Charlotte's uptown interests, rather than as a transportation plan.
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I think Tara means "Neanderthal," not "Cro-Magnon." Note the beetle-brow and the receding chin. In other words, a typical John Edwards voter!
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