Ken Avidor wrote: The folks who want to widen Lake Street (The Southwest Journal) say we have to because of a study that predicts an increase in car traffic on Lake Street.
Experience should make us wary of men in suits holding their crystal balls...are they working for families and neighborhoods or are they working for the developers, construction companies and construction unions that have been wrecking buildings and pouring concrete and tar all over the city for decades? (snip) They can't predict the future.. there a lot of facts, trends and unknown variables (like terrorists with box-cutters) that these guys aren't putting into their prognosticating balls... David Piehl writes: Absolutely! As someone who has intimate professional knowlege of forecasting techniques and limitations, the idea that any of the traffic engineers can accurately predict usage twenty years from now is entirely ridiculous. The assumptions required and sheer number of variables - not the least of which is a fickle public with changing habits - mean that you could do a "study" and come up with whatever "results" you want to support your construction project. I have copies of some of the original 1963 traffic studies, and they weren't particularly accurate in their predictions either. Remember, the Lake Street widening bit is part of the I35W proposal, and that is being led by a LOBBYIST! A study could equally justifiably say that the global war on terrorism will make the supply of fossil fuels unreliable, causing the price of gasoline to skyrocket. Study findings: build public transit wherever possible, stop spending money on freeway lanes. I keep asking the question of how we benefit from this project, and the only answer I get is that we "need" it. Why?! David Piehl Central __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
