Crosspost from !urbanplanning@lemmy.ml - I found this very interesting that traffic wasn’t really adversely affected!
I feel this so much. I read this quote from my local newspaper today:
When completed, traffic engineers predict a morning rush hour that’s expected to reduce current Boones Ferry Road to I-5 travel time from 6.5 minutes to 4 minutes.
While an exact starting date has yet to be set, construction will begin soon for the $2.7 million project.
$2.7MM of land widening to save… 180 seconds off of commutes.
It’s a joke that this kind of expense is expected as normal for road infrastructure but when you propose spending the same on rail or public transit it’s always “but so expensive!” “What a waste of money!” “Who’s paying for it?”
So what if a transit project is over budget? People will use it, and it’s possible for these projects to have more ways of measuring value than fare takings - nobody questions the fact that driving your private car on the motorway is free!
I was struck by the number of highways in Philadelphia:
Seems like we could tear down a few to reclaim some valuable urban land.
It’s mad. We got drunk on cheap petrol and look where it got us!