The two biggest reasons, in my estimation, for not widening any freeways are first,
that oil is not a renewable energy source and when it runs so low that most people
will not be able to afford it, we'll be stuck with a zillion miles of road and a
miniscule number of cars on it owned and operated by people with both the money and
the political heft to keep them in place for their semi-private use. (I'll probably be
dead by then, but. . .). The second is that the damn things are ugly, that's
ugh-g-l-y, ugly and, because they
were added after cities were designed and built, they have created unnatural
boundaries within neighborhoods that are a continuing pain in the butt to deal with.
Consider going from Nicollet Avenue east to Chicago. Lake St., 31st St., 36th St.,
42nd St. and 46th. It forces people into patterns that have played havoc with the
cohesiveness of neighborhoods which in turn leaves neighborhoods vulnerable to
deterioration and assault by no-good-niks.
WMarks, Central
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Terry Matula ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
>
> "And what evidence can you point to that indicates that adding lanes is a bad thing?
> I find it curious that so many people care so little about factual information when
>it comes to transportation issues."
>
> It's not always the present facts that are disturbing. The idea (several years ago
>squashed) of expanding 35W between the Crosstown and Downtown--and myself possibly
>having a freeway sound wall for a view if they tear down the block to our east to do
>it--that is a "bad thing." Not to mention people being forced to move because
>someone 20 miles further out doesn't want their speedometer needle to flutter under
>65 mph...
>
> "List manager" (we all know the man behind the curtain?) wrote:
>
> "�should city officials lobby to delay the Crosstown Project, to keep lanes open and
>ease the heavy impact (while perhaps stretching it out) on South Minneapolis
>neighborhoods where commuters will inevitably cut through? OR What mitigation steps
>SHOULD the neighborhoods try to get?"
>
> Preferable to me, that the commuters should remain in that concrete riverbed than to
>have them speeding through our neighborhoods (and some of them ending up with their
>cars entangled in my fence in the inevitable increase in accidents at our
>intersections)� That one reason for the Crosstown being altered is for safety
>reasons, bothers me--the accidents along 62 are less due to its design than to
>drivers' impatience. I say, cancel the project altogether and just keep the potholes
>filled. Too late for that, I suppose...
>
> [Driscoll2] wrote: "[the commuters] actually admit to preferring a freeway parking
>lot where they spend twice the time they do when the flow is faster as long as the
>gummint isn't telling them what to do! By Gad."
>
> Well, they made their bed[room communitie]s in Ham Lake, Princeton, and various
>exurbs in Wisconsin, now they can lie in it. THis isn't anti-suburb sentiment, it's
>just reality that if you're further away from your job, you shouldn't expect to get
>to work faster than those half the distance or less...
>
> It'a kind of bizarre but the ramp meters democratized commuting: After dropping off
>my spouse at her job in St. Louis Park, my gantlet through two separate meters on Hwy
>100 and I394 make my commute time exactly the same as the Cargill V.P. who lives in
>Deephaven!!!! (Wait, what am I saying?!)
>
> Luther Krueger whose commute (when Jo takes Metro Transit) is under 12 minutes from
>35th and 1st Av. S., to my ramp at 4th & Nicollet.
> Lyndale, 8th Ward
>
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