July 24, 201212 yr Well if anyone is still in a survey taking mood, you can also go to http://www.neohiotravelsurvey.com/Welcome.aspx and take the survey at the bottom of the page. It's only a handful of questions, but they do have a comment block. (Their full survey which requires being randomly invited took me about 20 minutes and was much more in depth.)
July 25, 201212 yr Hamilton Countys efforts to block sewer upgrades contemporaneous with the Cincinnati Streetcar project. Hamilton County did not block the streetcar; they just declined to participate in funding it.
July 25, 201212 yr Hamilton Countys efforts to block sewer upgrades contemporaneous with the Cincinnati Streetcar project. Hamilton County did not block the streetcar; they just declined to participate in funding it. Note that that quote didn't come from anything I wrote. I don't know anything about Hamilton County sewer upgrades. And "contemporaneous" sure as hell is not the kind of language I would use. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
September 25, 201212 yr Worth reading. See also the presentation at: http://www.leapinfo.org/NRDC%20Transportation%20Poll%209.18.12.pdf Transportation Advocates Get Stats to Bolster Their Work Nearly 70 percent of Americans think local governments should invest more in public transportation, and most Americans believe their state governments spend far more than they actually do on public transportation. Staff members from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) presented these and other results of their national poll on public attitudes on transportation options at a Sept. 18 meeting at LEAP’s Cleveland office. LEAP staff members, consumer advocates, and representatives from local government, transportation advocacy groups, and the Regional Transit Authority gathered for the presentation. The NRDC, one of the nation’s most prominent environmental groups, conducted the telephone poll last summer with 800 likely voters nationwide. The telephone poll was preceded by focus groups in three regions, including Cuyahoga County. Among the survey results: READ MORE AT.... http://www.leapinfo.org/2012sept1_nrdc_presents_at_leap.aspx "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
September 30, 201212 yr Anyone know how this project(http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/morning_call/2012/09/odot-project-will-ease-congestion.html) was pushed ahead of The I-71/I-70 and other projects in Ohio that's been pushed back 2 decades???
October 1, 201212 yr Anyone know how this project(http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/morning_call/2012/09/odot-project-will-ease-congestion.html) was pushed ahead of The I-71/I-70 and other projects in Ohio that's been pushed back 2 decades??? I think it's because it's relatively inexpensive... "only" $90M.
October 3, 201212 yr Hamilton County’s efforts to block sewer upgrades contemporaneous with the Cincinnati Streetcar project. Hamilton County did not block the streetcar; they just declined to participate in funding it. I can take credit for writing that description. Hamilton County refused to relocate aging sewer infrastructure, and as a result, they will pay a higher cost to replace them down the road. Cincinnati was even offering to pay 50% of the cost. It was a horrible idea for HamCo to turn down that deal. More info: http://www.urbancincy.com/2011/10/truth-behind-countys-msd-vote-comes-out/
December 6, 201212 yr ODOT has proposed a "non-negotiable" change in how it distributes discretionary federal Congestion Mitigation-Air Quality funding. Currently, it gives this block of money (about $60 million) to the Metropolitan Planning Organizations that determine local transportation needs in Ohio's metro areas. Instead, ODOT wants to keep that money at ODOT and set up a panel that distributes those funds, controlled by it and MPO representatives. This was told to MPO directors last month. It has now become public as the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (Dayton) shared a Nov. 27 internal memo about this in its Dec. 6 board meeting packet. That packet was posted on its website and then MVRPC tweeted the link earlier today: http://www.mvrpc.org/sites/default/files/board-mailout-december-2012.pdf Only seven of the 49 pages at the above link is relevant to the ODOT change, so I pulled out those pages and posted them here: http://tinyurl.com/b8rlm9r The question is, what does this mean for Ohio's urban areas? If ODOT was a multimodal transportation department, I would not be concerned. But they have become even more hostile to supporting transportation options. As fewer people drive and spend gas taxes, while others are taking transit, biking, walking in dense urban communities, or telecommuting, ODOT in recent years has been hoarding as much money as it can. ODOT is even borrowing against future increases in gas tax revenues in the hopes that the downward trend in gas taxes will stop and suddenly reverse. The goal is to build more lane-miles, induce more Ohioans back on the roads, and get more gas tax revenues flowing to keep the road contractors' ATM machine humming on the feedback loop that its been running on for 60+ years. The problem is there are 1 million+ Ohioans without cars and that number is growing, plus many more who are car-poor (multiple wage earners sharing one car per household, have a poorly maintained or unsafe/inoperable car, etc). This growing segment of the population is being marginalized and I see this move by ODOT as further evidence of their desire to keep the road building machine going for as long as it can. ODOT two-year budget comes up for a vote in March-April in the Ohio legislature. The General Assembly will likely rubber-stamp the budget and all changes proposed within -- including this anti-urban, anti-transit, anti-pedestrian, anti-choice proposal. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 6, 201212 yr Where does that $60 million come from? From general tax revenue or the gas tax?
December 6, 201212 yr It comes from a mix of federal general treasury and federal gas tax funds. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 9, 201212 yr State Can't Spend Activity Tax Money on Non-highway Projects The Ohio Supreme Court rules that $140 million a year is being spent unconstitutionally By Alan Johnson The Columbus Dispatch Friday December 7, 2012 11:31 AM The state is unconstitutionally spending $140 million a year gleaned from the Commercial Activity Tax for non-highway purposes, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled today. The money has been allocated to local government, schools and other expenses. In a 6-1 ruling written by outgoing Justice Robert R. Cupp, the court found that how the state is spending the money violates the Ohio Constitution. The court did not invalidate the CAT tax, which replaced the state corporate franchise tax, nor did it apply the decision retroactively. Cupp said the constitution “explicitly prohibits the expenditure of revenue derived from excises on motor-vehicle fuel for any purpose other than highway purposes.” He said because a section of state law “credits revenue collected from excise taxes on motor-vehicle fuel to purposes other than highway purposes, that provision of the CAT is unconstitutional.” Read more at: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/12/07/cat-tax-spending-unconstitutional.html
December 9, 201212 yr This is part of the growing money grab to keep road construction contractors feeding at the public trough (see article posted before this), even though Ohio's roadway network is vastly overbuilt. That can't feed if ODOT is $4 billion in the red, as is predicted in the coming years. But they keep on building more roads, lanes and bridges we don't need and can't afford! However, this was one money grab that didn't work out for them the way they wanted..... BMV fees can fund more than road repairs, law enforcement By Pamela Engel The Columbus Dispatch Friday December 7, 2012 5:36 AM Reversing lower court decisions, the state’s highest court ruled yesterday that allocating certain Bureau of Motor Vehicles document fees for purposes other than road upkeep is constitutional. The Ohio Supreme Court said the “vast majority of drivers and vehicles on the road are registered, operated or used without the necessity of a certified (driver’s license) abstract” and that information kept by the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles is largely available free through public-records requests. ....Revenue from the certified driver’s license abstracts fee reached about $10.7 million last year, according to the motor-vehicles bureau. READ MORE AT: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/12/07/bmv-fees-can-fund-more-than-road-repairs-law-enforcement.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 9, 201212 yr How hard-up are the road construction contractors for new business? Greater Ohio estimated that with the road contractors' desire to expand our already overbuilt highway system, plus rising construction costs, plus declining miles-driven this century, plus falling gas tax revenues, Ohioans would need to cumulatively raise our state gas tax by two cents per year every year ad infinitum. This most recent victory in the Ohio Supreme Court for the road contractors netted for them $140 million annually without raising any taxes/prices at the pump. The consumer won't notice a thing. And that $140 million is a sizeable chunk of dough. Or is it? The current state gas tax rate is 28 cents per gallon, with each cent generating $64 million per year (http://tinyurl.com/aankmmz). So their court victory netting them $140 million per year is equal to about 2.2 cents of gas tax per gallon. The case decided this past week by the Ohio Supreme Court was filed with the Franklin County Common Pleas Court in June 2010 (http://tinyurl.com/byh7vbf note the case parties). So the contractors spent two and a half years in the courts to get a little more than one year of net fiscal benefit of new gas tax revenue.... Well, at least that was more of a return on investment than what Karl Rove's johns got from him and Mitt Romney. But not by much. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 10, 201212 yr ODOT has proposed a "non-negotiable" change in how it distributes discretionary federal Congestion Mitigation-Air Quality funding. Currently, it gives this block of money (about $60 million) to the Metropolitan Planning Organizations that determine local transportation needs in Ohio's metro areas. Instead, ODOT wants to keep that money at ODOT and set up a panel that distributes those funds, controlled by it and MPO representatives. This was told to MPO directors last month. It has now become public as the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (Dayton) shared a Nov. 27 internal memo about this in its Dec. 6 board meeting packet. That packet was posted on its website and then MVRPC tweeted the link earlier today: http://www.mvrpc.org/sites/default/files/board-mailout-december-2012.pdf Only seven of the 49 pages at the above link is relevant to the ODOT change, so I pulled out those pages and posted them here: http://tinyurl.com/b8rlm9r The question is, what does this mean for Ohio's urban areas? If ODOT was a multimodal transportation department, I would not be concerned. But they have become even more hostile to supporting transportation options. As fewer people drive and spend gas taxes, while others are taking transit, biking, walking in dense urban communities, or telecommuting, ODOT in recent years has been hoarding as much money as it can. ODOT is even borrowing against future increases in gas tax revenues in the hopes that the downward trend in gas taxes will stop and suddenly reverse. The goal is to build more lane-miles, induce more Ohioans back on the roads, and get more gas tax revenues flowing to keep the road contractors' ATM machine humming on the feedback loop that its been running on for 60+ years. The problem is there are 1 million+ Ohioans without cars and that number is growing, plus many more who are car-poor (multiple wage earners sharing one car per household, have a poorly maintained or unsafe/inoperable car, etc). This growing segment of the population is being marginalized and I see this move by ODOT as further evidence of their desire to keep the road building machine going for as long as it can. ODOT two-year budget comes up for a vote in March-April in the Ohio legislature. The General Assembly will likely rubber-stamp the budget and all changes proposed within -- including this anti-urban, anti-transit, anti-pedestrian, anti-choice proposal. I would think the MPO's, the federal government, civil rights organizations, those representing impaired people and others would find this very offensive. This grab smells and begs for a legal challenge!!! Talk about nerve!!! I urge anyone in Ohio to NOT sit idly by and let this happen.
December 10, 201212 yr There are some who see a few potential benefits of this change, such as implementing transit services, bike paths and rail services that go beyond an individual MPO's service area. MPOs are proposed to be represented on a board that oversees the project scoring process and the selection of projects. The proof of why ODOT is seeking this change will be revealed when that process starts. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 26, 201312 yr ODOT and its TRAC "puppet" speak from the Hilltop and once again..... it is the language of highways-only. Roadway projects get panel’s approval Cash still lacking for completion By Sara Jerde The Columbus Dispatch Saturday January 26, 2013 5:46 AM Nearly 40 major road projects across the state that had been repeatedly shuffled and rescheduled last year have been prioritized, finalized and recommended to the Ohio Department of Transportation. The Transportation Review Advisory Council voted this week on the 39 projects, including the I-71/70 reconstruction in Franklin County.Whether the state has money for all of the projects is another question. The state delayed some projects recommended by the council last year because they would have cost $1.6 billion more than was available. ODOT was able to cut the budget by $400 million by June by reducing staff and some project sizes and not buying equipment. With the new recommendations, all Franklin County projects’ costs and construction lead time either decreased or stayed the same. For example, the final phase of the I-71/70 reconstruction that had been scheduled for 2028 is now set to begin in 2025.Total cost of all five phases is now estimated at $659 million. Elsewhere in central Ohio, work on a $17.5 million east-west connector at Rickenbacker Airport is to start this year, and a $36.6 million interchange at Rt. 16 and Cherry Valley Road in Licking County is scheduled to for construction beginning in 2015. Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/01/26/roadway-projects-get-panels-approval.html
January 26, 201312 yr I hope they budgeted enough to replace the 90 East sound barrier walls again in the near future. Can never have enough of those brand new walls! :-P
January 29, 201312 yr Tuesday, January 29, 2013 The State DOT Revolving Door: Meet Jerry Wray, Ohio’s “Asphalt Sheriff” by Angie Schmitt One of the top goals of the national transportation reform movement is to get state DOTs to spend their money more wisely. The feds distribute tens of billions of dollars to state DOTs each year with very few strings attached. But for every state like Massachusetts or Tennessee that’s decided to shift toward building walkable streets and away from highway construction, there are plenty of state DOTs that continue to build very expensive, sprawl-inducing roads, even though they can’t afford to maintain what they already have. In many states, big decisions about how to spend money have less to do with the actual public benefits of a given project than the rewards that accrue to elected officials. With billions of dollars at stake, transportation departments can be used to reward favored constituencies or to achieve other political goals. Witness Birmingham’s $4.7 billion zombie highway, which won’t do much besides line the pockets of politically-connected companies. Or how about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s decision in 2010 to kill the ARC rail tunnel connection to New York’s Penn Station, which threw away years of preparation so Christie could win national attention from movement conservatives and appeal to his suburban base by diverting the funds to roadbuilding. Sometimes transportation decisions amount to little more than cronyism, which is never more obvious than when a governor hires an industry lobbyist to run his state DOT. For this series, which we’re calling “The Revolving Door,” Streetsblog looked at three states where governors have gone so far as to put a lobbyist for the roadbuilding or energy industries in charge of transportation policy. To kick off the Revolving Door series, we’re taking a look at Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jerry Wray, nicknamed the “asphalt sheriff,” who managed to sandwich a lobbying position at an asphalt industry group in between his two terms as ODOT head. Angie Schmitt is a newspaper reporter-turned planner/advocate who manages the Streetsblog Network from glamorous Cleveland, Ohio. She also writes about urban issues particular to the industrial Midwest at Rustwire.com. Read more at: http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/01/29/the-state-dot-revolving-door-meet-jerry-wray-ohios-asphalt-sheriff/
January 30, 201312 yr Next installment in the series..... Wednesday, January 30, 2013 Ohio’s “Jobs and Transportation Plan”: A Blueprint for Robbing Young People by Angie Schmitt What ODOT has promised is that all the highway spending would be reserved for Northern Ohio. But Northern Ohio is one of the most rapidly shrinking regions of the country. Harvard economist Ed Gleaser once said, “The hallmark of declining cities is that they have too much housing and infrastructure relative to the strength of their economies.” We need less road infrastructure in this region, not more. If this money is spent on new highways, it will become an additional liability for future generations, without regard for their preferences. Meanwhile, the evidence that additional highways will improve Ohio’s economy — the sole reason given for this spending spree — is debatable. An analysis by Houston writer Patrick Kennedy found Cleveland already has the fourth highest number of highway miles per capita of any city in the country. Studies have shown an inverse relationship [PDF] between highway miles in a city and property values. Cleveland and other Northern Ohio cities could serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of overbuilding highways. Instead, it’s as if we’ve learned nothing from five decades of experience with urban sprawl and abandonment. READ MORE AT: http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/01/30/ohios-jobs-and-transportation-plan-will-stick-it-to-the-states-young/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 31, 201312 yr An analysis by Houston writer Patrick Kennedy found Cleveland already has the fourth highest number of highway miles per capita of any city in the country. Well, yeah. Its freeway system was designed for a city of one million people, plus suburbs. There's less than half that, now. The "per capita" factor alone guarantees a high number.
January 31, 201312 yr Interesting article but totally ignores what so many in the Obama & Strickland administration have touted as job creation benefits of road building... good paying middle class union jobs, building & maintaining the infrastructure. Let's not forget the Innerbelt bridge funding was a gift from the Stimulus... the massive I-280 bridge in Toledo was the career achievement of venerable Marcy Kaptur, which her own webpage proudly touts as the largest bridge project in Ohio's history... talk about an unneeded project for a declining metro area.... The facts pointed out in Ms Schmitt's article are nothing new, writing has been on the wall for more than a decade now regarding declining miles driven & baby boomers retiring, etc. It's just laughable that she chooses to spin the article into blaming the latest scenario entirely on current governor Kasich with no mention of prior governors or ODOT directors who were just as complicit.
January 31, 201312 yr Well, yeah. Its freeway system was designed for a city of one million people, plus suburbs. There's less than half that, now. The "per capita" factor alone guarantees a high number. I recall seeing 1960s-era highway planning documents maybe 10-20 years ago which projected Cleveland metro population of 4 million by 2000. Oops. It's just laughable that she chooses to spin the article into blaming the latest scenario entirely on current governor Kasich with no mention of prior governors or ODOT directors who were just as complicit. Strickland's transportation strategy council (I had two friends on it and I wrote the passenger rail section) recommended that Strickland push for a gas tax increase with a constitutionial amendment allowing the additional gas tax to be used for any transportation purpose. He killed that idea because he didn't want to the be the champion of a gas tax increase. So few if any of the other elements of the statewide transportation strategy were realized either. He did flex $50 million in federal transportation funds to be used for public transit but that's a drop in the bucket. Kasich killed that the moment he came into office. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 31, 201312 yr Well, yeah. Its freeway system was designed for a city of one million people, plus suburbs. There's less than half that, now. The "per capita" factor alone guarantees a high number. I recall seeing 1960s-era highway planning documents maybe 10-20 years ago which projected Cleveland metro population of 4 million by 2000. Oops. There were also a bunch of freeways that never got built. Clark, Lee, and Bedford spring to mind. IIRC, the Bedford Freeway would have connected 480 near Bedford Heights right into University Circle.
January 31, 201312 yr Yep. I remember. I have a county highway map from 40-some years ago with lots of dotted lines on it. Don't forget the Heights Freeway and the Parma Freeway -- part of which exists as the overly-long exit ramps from I-71 to Denison Avenue. And evidence of the Bedford Freeway (Lee?) exists at the extra-wide median of I-480 in the vicinity of Granger Road. Point is, all these 8-10 lane roads were built for a metro area that never happened. And yes, more were planned. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 22, 201311 yr I thought you might all enjoy this John Kasich quote from the Cincinnati Enquirer: “As hard as this may be to believe, there’s no politics in TRAC. I don’t get in the middle of it.” Yeah, sure. So how did the Cincinnati Streetcar, which was ranked the #1 transportation project in the state under Strickland, have all of its state funding yanked once Kasich got into office? At a press conference I personally attended, Kasich even admitted that his administration had different criteria for ranking projects than Strickland's administration did. So, how exactly does that equate to Kasich not getting in the middle of it?
July 22, 201311 yr Here we go...miles and miles of shimmering new roads...a $3 billion road building extravaganza by Johnny Boy Kasich and his highway allies... http://www.columbusunderground.com/kasich-proposes-3-billion-investment-in-ohio-highways
July 22, 201311 yr So... Ohio can't afford a $17 million operating cost of a high-speed rail line across the state built with money from the federal government, but we can afford to spend $3 billion on new projects without a plan to fund for the maintenance or ability to maintain the current infrastructure? Interesting...
July 22, 201311 yr So... Ohio can't afford a $17 million operating cost of a high-speed rail line across the state built with money from the federal government, but we can afford to spend $3 billion on new projects without a plan to fund for the maintenance or ability to maintain the current infrastructure? Interesting... The "I'll show me" way of operating government. Kasich should note that he didn't save any money, he only allowed it to be spent elsewhere.
July 22, 201311 yr So... Ohio can't afford a $17 million operating cost of a high-speed rail line across the state built with money from the federal government, but we can afford to spend $3 billion on new projects without a plan to fund for the maintenance or ability to maintain the current infrastructure? Interesting... "WE'RE BROKE!"
July 22, 201311 yr Kasich really likes punishing geographic areas with a low percentage of Republican voters. Yanking streetcar funds to distribute to other areas, including his home district. Using turnpike money on projects to support suburban SWO. It's more than just throwing a bit of extra money at supportive areas, which all politicians do; it's actively taking away money from less friendly areas.
July 22, 201311 yr A new by-pass around the city of Portsmouth for $440,000,000+ (according to the Columbus underground article)? Portsmouth has right around 20,000 in population... how is that possibly justifiable to spend that kind of money on such a project?
July 22, 201311 yr The current Portsmouth bypass (Rosemount Rd.) requires people to slow to 25 mph for almost half a mile. And that's completely unacceptable.
July 22, 201311 yr A new by-pass around the city of Portsmouth for $440,000,000+ (according to the Columbus underground article)? Portsmouth has right around 20,000 in population... how is that possibly justifiable to spend that kind of money on such a project? You should see how much Oil rich Alaska gets. but I Agree. Better to use that money for I-74 through to DC.
July 22, 201311 yr For that money you'd have to think that an alternative analysis for maintaining a flotilla of always available jet-boat ferries on the Ohio River would possibly come in cheaper.
July 22, 201311 yr So... Ohio can't afford a $17 million operating cost of a high-speed rail line across the state built with money from the federal government, but we can afford to spend $3 billion on new projects without a plan to fund for the maintenance or ability to maintain the current infrastructure? Interesting... "WE'RE BROKE!" To be fair, the 3C plan had nothing to do with high-speed rail. It didn't even purport to be a first step toward achieving high speed rail. That doesn't excuse the Kasich administration's obvious failings re: transportation, but I don't think it does the pro-rail argument any favors to claim that 79 mph = high speed.
July 23, 201311 yr So... Ohio can't afford a $17 million operating cost of a high-speed rail line across the state built with money from the federal government, but we can afford to spend $3 billion on new projects without a plan to fund for the maintenance or ability to maintain the current infrastructure? Interesting... "WE'RE BROKE!" To be fair, the 3C plan had nothing to do with high-speed rail. It didn't even purport to be a first step toward achieving high speed rail. That doesn't excuse the Kasich administration's obvious failings re: transportation, but I don't think it does the pro-rail argument any favors to claim that 79 mph = high speed. True, but The $3 billion amounts to about seven times what the 3-C Corridor would have cost. And that Portsmouth bypass for a town of 20,000 vs. a rail line that would have connected 60% of Ohio's population? Ridiculous.
July 23, 201311 yr Here we go...miles and miles of shimmering new roads...a $3 billion road building extravaganza by Johnny Boy Kasich and his highway allies... http://www.columbusunderground.com/kasich-proposes-3-billion-investment-in-ohio-highways Sometimes it's really hard to like this state. I'm just really tired in living in a state that is stuck in the 1950s.
July 23, 201311 yr Here we go...miles and miles of shimmering new roads...a $3 billion road building extravaganza by Johnny Boy Kasich and his highway allies... http://www.columbusunderground.com/kasich-proposes-3-billion-investment-in-ohio-highways Sometimes it's really hard to like this state. I'm just really tired in living in a state that is stuck in the 1950s. Get yer greaser haircuts and poodle skirts, guys n' gals...we're going back, back, back in time... :|
July 23, 201311 yr Sometimes it's really hard to like this state. I'm just really tired in living in a state that is stuck in the 1950s. Awww, c'mon!! It's not at all like the 1950s! In the 1950s, Ohio had passenger rail and choices!
July 24, 201311 yr ^ How about being stuck in 1973, just before the Arab Oil Embargo and after all the trains were killed off?
July 24, 201311 yr ^ How about being stuck in 1973, just before the Arab Oil Embargo and after all the trains were killed off? That may be more appropriate, but I still think the 1950s were the beginnings of America's love affair with the auto, which that mindset then led to decreased rail/transit options in the 1970s (and today).
July 28, 201311 yr I was in Boston when all of this was announced. It was difficult to come back here. BTW, we visited friends in the Castkills on the way back and took I-90 from Erie into Cleveland. While I-86 was empty (I'd love to see the tax-gap analysis of that road!), I-90 was as crowded as I-95 was in Rhode Island. The difference is that I-90 was paralleled by railroads with one daily Amtrak train and about 80 daily freight trains. But I-95 was paralleled by railroads with about 70 daily Amtrak and MBTA passenger trains and about a dozen freight trains. Hell, I'd be happy with just four daily passenger trains into Cleveland from the east! That would probably carry a one-time cost to taxpayers of perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars while also increasing capacity for more freight traffic. The right of way would be maintained by the private sector, not taxpayers. The operating subsidies of the passenger trains could be sustained by value-capture mechanisms from station-area developments. We need real estate investors and others with political pull to make the case for this. So far, those folks are crying for roads in Ohio. So that's what our elected leaders are spending our tax money on. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 1, 201311 yr ^ How about being stuck in 1973, just before the Arab Oil Embargo and after all the trains were killed off? That may be more appropriate, but I still think the 1950s were the beginnings of America's love affair with the auto, which that mindset then led to decreased rail/transit options in the 1970s (and today). The love affair with mechanized road transportation began in World War II. The GIs got to ride almost everywhere while both allies and enemies typically had to walk.
August 1, 201311 yr I was in Boston when all of this was announced. It was difficult to come back here. BTW, we visited friends in the Castkills on the way back and took I-90 from Erie into Cleveland. While I-86 was empty (I'd love to see the tax-gap analysis of that road!), I-90 was as crowded as I-95 was in Rhode Island. The difference is that I-90 was paralleled by railroads with one daily Amtrak train and about 80 daily freight trains. But I-95 was paralleled by railroads with about 70 daily Amtrak and MBTA passenger trains and about a dozen freight trains. Hell, I'd be happy with just four daily passenger trains into Cleveland from the east! That would probably carry a one-time cost to taxpayers of perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars while also increasing capacity for more freight traffic. The right of way would be maintained by the private sector, not taxpayers. The operating subsidies of the passenger trains could be sustained by value-capture mechanisms from station-area developments. We need real estate investors and others with political pull to make the case for this. So far, those folks are crying for roads in Ohio. So that's what our elected leaders are spending our tax money on. Yes, I always wonder what a cost-benefit analysis of I-88 and I-86 would have shown. Neither have much traffic.
August 2, 201311 yr Or the infamous I-99. I drove a small part of the Bud Shuster Highway nearly two weeks ago. I was so blessed to have a hugely expensive mountain Interstate highway all to myself. Do Google streetviews of it and you'll see what I mean. This is why the federal Highway Trust Fund is bankrupt. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 2, 201311 yr ^ This discussion probably belongs in the "What Interstate Should be abandoned" thread, but points up that years after being built, many of these roads STILL have little traffic and never will pay for themselves. These roads never faced the rigorous cost-benefit analyses, environmental reviews, funding issues or public referendums that other modes routinely face. Is it any wonder that transportation decisions are so one-sided?
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