tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post7299408318699304032..comments2023-10-08T04:12:46.273-05:00Comments on The Political Environment: Oil At $80/Barrel - - Regional Freeway Plan Tied To Much Cheaper GasJames Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10203270946492159686noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-20955099985997793382007-11-17T15:46:00.000-06:002007-11-17T15:46:00.000-06:00Curious that he'd respond with that comment on Sea...Curious that he'd respond with that comment on Seattle, since Seattle's population will grow by about 40% to 2030. Oh -- and polling results show that the highway-transit bond proposal that just failed there would have passed if it were transit-only.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-25769195290415260982007-09-12T18:32:00.000-05:002007-09-12T18:32:00.000-05:00Jim -- Yes, most of the money would go to reconstr...Jim -- Yes, most of the money would go to reconstruct freeways, but with design "improvements" that actually are enlargements and may well not be necessary. The range of choices that SEWRPC studied was extremely limited -- to three. In addition, let's not forget that a member of the SEWRPC advisory committee actually making the decisions belonged to a road-building lobbyist organization, and the president of that organization also happened to be a high-ranking official with HNTB, the consultant assisting SEWRPC hired to help with the study.<BR/><BR/>Gee, anyone see a conflict of interest there?<BR/><BR/>Let's also not forget that SEWRPC's cost figures -- if they ever were accurate -- are now so outdated they are almost useless. Road construction, like the cost of gasoline, has skyrocketed. <BR/><BR/>SEWRPC will tell anyone and everyone that it supports transit, but it absolutely has refused to establish transit as a priorit, or to recommend completion of certain transit projects before or in tandem with certain road-building projects. Finally, SEWRPC sent out a grossly biased, piece-of-crap survey to undisclosed recipients designed to show support for freeway expansion. <BR/><BR/>I'd be interested if the agency has any plans to survey residents in the same manner about transit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com