Did you ever notice...

[coltle6920]

Did you ever notice that every major infrastructure project caused more problems then it solved.

If time travel was a reality our Governments still wouldn't know how to fix anything.

I used to really like Colorado. Now I barely tolerate it because of what has happened over the last few decades. The traffic congestion that is a blight in most US cities has spread to the suburbs making even a local trip to the market a pain.

The beltways that used to take traffic around the congestion no longer function as were originally intended. New developments are popping up like weeds turning these beltways into just another road unable to handle the increased flow of traffic.

Most people aren't ready for an EV. We just haven't reached the point where technology makes them practical for the majority. Those vehicles with the stop/start function are supposed to ease the pollution in the air. That's fine when you actually stop but how about when traffic is just crawling along? Even with all the latest technology our vehicles aren't made to run efficiently when they're creeping along. Just another cause and effect for air pollution.

I'm no car mechanic and certainly not a politician. Forget the Constitution. Maybe our politicians should take the same oath that doctors take... if nothing else do no harm.

 

[twodog max]

Just look at the fine job government bureaucrats did at fixing something as simple as gas cans. They do they same thing at the bigger projects.

 

[gjgalligan]

You can blame increased traffic congestion on everybody that had children.
Including your parents.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Government is trying. Unfortunately they are collectively no brighter than the general population as that is who makes up government. Add to that the default human condition of me first, then everyone else and the source of the problem is obvious. Take comfort in knowing that this isn't the first time this issue has been addressed.
Have a drink, spark a doobie or whatever floats your boat and fugetaboutit

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

 

[16thVACav]

You can blame increased traffic congestion on everybody that had children.
Including your parents.

Having children is hereditary. If your parents didn't have children, chances are you won't either.

 

[LVSteve]

The beltways that used to take traffic around the congestion no longer function as were originally intended. New developments are popping up like weeds turning these beltways into just another road unable to handle the increased flow of traffic.

Many years ago I was in the office of a new development on the outskirts of Vegas. There was a map showing future plans with development beyond the I-215 beltway.


"Are you planning to build out there?" I asked.

Realtor, beaming, "Oh yes, Sir."

Me, with my unimpressed face, "Huh, if I was in charge you and the other builders would have been told the beltway was a hard limit. No more after that."

The realtor actually clutched the desk to steady herself. She looked genuinely ill. Clearly I had uttered some dreadful heresy.

Just as bad are the people who demand more exits on a functioning freeway. Get the exits too close together, and it's no longer a freeway. Limited access highway means what it says, but you cannot tell some people.

 

[LVSteve]

If you want a full picture of how a major infrastructure project can really foul up people's lives, go to the BBC News website and look at the failures of the HS2 railroad project. Chunks of the original plan were abandoned when the real costs became apparent. The UK is incapable of costing major projects, it seems. However, the truncation of then plans was not before property values were sunk or eminent domain purchases made.

The various layers of government have not helped. Even the remainder of the project has to go through over 2000 planning and environmental impact studies.

 

[Yendor357]

The Start/Stop feature can be turned off.

Go during non peak hours.

 

[coltle6920]

The Start/Stop feature can be turned off.

Just makes my point. The function is equally ineffective at reducing air pollution whether it's on or off.

 

[ameridaddy]

There's a suburban road through an older section of the city here that is a major rush hour route through some very pretty, century-old four square cottages, parks and small retail centers, all lined with beautiful old trees. The city decided to improve things, cut down all the old trees along the road verge, cut 10-20' off peoples front yards, and spent three years widening the road from 2 lanes with a center turn lane into 4 lanes with a landscape divider strip. All that time, traffic crept with alternating lanes open and closed, equipment and materials moving and stored, rough patches and steel plates everywhere, IOW, commuter hell.
Last spring it opened, and by golly it was nice, maybe worth the wait. Good flow, nice scenery and landscaping, and glass smooth, well marked asphalt. Well, this fall, we're back to alternating lanes and huge backups. They dug up a whole lane of that nice smooth asphalt to lay new water mains. Do you 'spose it's too much to expect the highway guys could talk to the water department and vice-versa sometime over the previous three year period? When this goat rope is finished, we'll get to ride on nice lumpty bumpty patches for 3 miles, instead of the nice smooth asphalt..
Aarrrrgggh!

 

[armadillo]

The government spends a lot of time trying to fix problems caused by the way they fixed other problems.

 

[jeffrefrig]

There's a room down in DC near the planning department that's full of all the good LSD that used to be around 50 years ago. When your state gov't gets federal funding for infrastructure, they usually include a few micro-dots with the cash. Everything around PGH is screwy because of all the hills, rivers, tunnels, and the steel making facilities along the rivers. All roads had to deal with that, and were probably designed for only 2-lane roads.

 

[mtgianni]

If I owned a piece of property and the government wanted to put an Interstate by pass through it I would give it to them. The economic benefits of having 10 acres on a frontage road would be huge.

People are our own worst enemies, and they flocked to developments close to highways built for commuters.

 

[Rudi]

If the gubmt was in charge of the Sahara desert, in 5 years there would be a shortag of sand.

 

[steelslaver]

The government never ever fixes problems. There is a real reason for this. PEOPLE WITHOUT PROBLEMS, DON'T NEED GOVERNMENT

Therefor the government sees a real need for problems

 

[Onomea]

Did you ever notice that every major infrastructure project caused more problems then it solved...

Well, I dunno about every... The interstate highway system. The Golden Gate Bridge. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Hoover Dam. The High Line in NYC...

 

[steelslaver]

Ya all done over 50 years ago. The likes of men like Ike don't run for office anymore.

Manufacturing is just 8% of what they now figure as GNP and construction is just 4.5% while they somehow figure government is over 11% of the GNP?????? The biggies are ,insurance, banking and fiance, Pharmaceuticals, health care, auto sales (sales, not auto manufacturing). Refining of fuel is the first thing we actually produce which ranks at #8

We have become a nation of middle men.

 

[Onomea]

How about the new terminal at the Portland, OR, airport? Passed through it a few weeks ago. Very nice: Gorgeous: New Portland Airport Terminal Now Open - One Mile at a Time

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Government jobs are employment projects first - the alleged mission of the employer is merely an occasional byproduct.