Filed under: AL, Birmingham Alabama, Birmingham, AL, Cities, Civic Engagement, Commentary, Mass Transit, News Media (as source & subject), other cities, Sustainable Development, The Rambles, transit, Transportation, urban issues
An article in yesterday’s Birmingham News spoke of an engineering plan that will call for a four-lane elevated toll road over U.S. 280. The plan was approved by the Progress 280 group with the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce yesterday, with public hearings to take place at the end of the month. Here’s the links to yesterday’s and today’s stories:
- Engineer to show plan for raised 280, The Birmingham News, 8.17.2006
- Skylane toll plan offers `bridge relief’ for U.S. 280, The Birmingham News, 8.18.2006
A conversation with a long time resident this morning has me wondering why people would be more willing to pay to drive on a road than pay to have the ability to get additional work done during their commute. I was reminded of the benefits of a transit commute by a recent editorial written by John Saxon to the Birmingham News about his experiences in Budapest. Here’s a cached link to his letter courtesy of Google. Here’s a cached link to a response that the newspaper published. It goes back to the idea of civic pride, but there’s something to be said about always selling yourselves short. Nothing will ever result. This is also where I remind people that we have not always depended on cars in this city; it once boasted the nation’s second largest streetcar system. Read on…
The idea of building more roads to combat traffic issues in our region may not be a solution those that hope for transit oriented solutions would hope for. This city’s metropolitan area has expanded in part due to the ability for people to have their own space to listen to their own music, have their cup holders for coffee, put on makeup and shave in without offending others. The idea of convincing commuters to give up their freedom to go where they want when they want is daunting and most likely impossible currently as it would take a great deal of education and nudging (and probably as much money as the new road would take). I just wonder if the money spent on an elevated roadway could be better spent on improving the existing bus system, perhaps expanding it to provide bus rapid transit service on the same scale as an Ottawa, Ontario developed theirs as an integral first part of a larger solution to the problem. Or you could do something similar to the existing bus network that helps my fellow New Yorkers get from point A to point B.
It would be interesting to show the difference in cost for the building of a new 10-mile road vs. the development of a bus rapid transit system. In both cases it will be a matter of time and conditioning for users to adapt and change. If they are willing to pay for the privilege of driving on a road, then they should be willing to pay for the privilege to get some additional work done on the way to and from work without having to worry (most of the time) about who’s driving.
This is the part where I say how much I do love driving. There are times I hate my car, but I love driving. The ability to escape on the weekend is a great thing to have available to me. That said, I’d be willing to see ideas like Zipcar available to me. These programs are in place in several cities and provide ways for people to continue to live affordably if they can live with the idea of not having the car keys available at a moment’s notice. For those ready to say that I have no idea what I’m talking about since I own a car, my brother uses them all the time in New York and loves it. He also ends up with a lot more disposable income than I have because he doesn’t have the additional bills to pay (and he does make less than I do).
A developed transit system would allow for both of these alternative ideas to be developed and increase our quality of life in a way that simply cannot be discounted. I am not saying that a toll road is a bad idea, especially when you have one of the best in the business designing it. I’m just saying that rather than build our way out of a problem with a beautiful stretch of engineering (because whether you want to admit it or not, they are), let’s solve the issues we already have and reduce some of that traffic so I don’t have to install that ozone alert button in the sidebar.
Thoughts? Comments? Dance steps to the Time Warp? Post ‘em.
Cheers.
8 Comments so far
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Its just a jump to the left,
Than a step to the riiiiiight.
Ok, that’s it for the time warp.
I do have to say that I’m surprised that the elevated toll road got the go ahead when we still have ozone alert days. When the area PSAs are promoting driving less due to air quality, the area planners are adding additional roadways to add to the volume of cars on the roads? Some how, that doesn’t make good sense to me. Fixing the buses and adding additional routes would be better than that.
We’ve had this conversation before, and I know you’ve said that it would take you at least 2 hours to get from your home to your work if you took the bus. That isn’t right either. And I don’t even want to think about the trip it would take to get to my day job on the bus. The DART shuttles downtown are nice for going up and down 20th Street and University Blvd, but are limited in other travel. Until we get a better transit system in place, we are going to continue with ozone alerts and pollution problems.
I love my car, too. Having the freedom to go wherever when I want is intoxicating. But it is also an expensive proposition. I just paid my car off and had maintenance done. So I spent close to $800.00 on my “freedom” this month, before gas, insurance, and tags. I’ve finally broken down and started to keep track of all of the expenses that are involved in owning my car. I’ll get a decent overview by the end of the year to see just exactly what is covered in those expenses. I suspect that it will be eye opening.
Zipcar looks to be an intriguing option. That could be a very interesting way to use a car. In the end something like that may be much less expensive than owning your own vehicle.
Thanks for bringing this up agin, and I hope you don’t have to add an ozone ticker to your blog.
Comment by Elaine August 18, 2006 @ 9:44 amYou can’t dig yourself out of a hole, same holds true for traffic congestion
Comment by Batonga August 18, 2006 @ 10:53 amI lived in Atlanta some years ago, and the Journal-Constitution looked at the issue of traffic congestion. Their conclusion (or the conclusion of a study they cited) was that more lanes was not a solution to traffic problems. It created temporary relief, but ultimately, the problem would be as bad as ever.
Public transportation is the way to go.
Comment by Danny August 18, 2006 @ 1:04 pm(the following information is according to a flier I just picked up at the Chamber)
Two public meetings have been scheduled. Displays and graphics will illustrate items such as the U.S. 280 Corridor features, and describe the upcoming public involvement activities. Representatives from Figg Engineering Group and the Progress 280 Task Force will be on hand to meet with interested members of the community. A brief presentation on the project will be given at 3pm and 7pm describing how our community can create a vision to solve our U.S. 280 traffic congestion.
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Comment by Curtis August 18, 2006 @ 2:13 pmEASTERN SEGMENT discussion (I-459 to Eagle Point Parkway)
Monday, August 28th @ Birmingham Marriott Hotel
3590 GrandView Parkway, off 280 south of I-459
2pm to 4pm OR 6pm to 8pm (both have same info)
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WESTERN SEGMENT discussion (Elton B. Stephens Expressway to I-459)
Tuesday, August 29th @ Birmingham Marriott Hotel
3590 GrandView Parkway, off 280 south of I-459
2pm to 4pm OR 6pm to 8pm (both have same info)
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I have a few thoughts:
If Birmingham and ALDOT decide to add any more lanes to highways in Greater Birmingham, they should be HOV only – this would prove a much bigger bang for our tax buck and would motivate many to actually make the effort to find a carpool buddy.
Birmingham desparately needs a comprehensive transit plan. (Isn’t this one of RPC’s jobs?)At some point, city and state leaders have gotta step up and for once become proactive with respect to transit (and development in general!). An elevated band-aid on 280 will only treat the symptoms of congestion, and temporarily at that.
Lastly, I live in Helena and have two active railroad lines that pass within 300 yards of my house. It’s loud sometimes, but I’m used to it! There was a time in the not-to-distant past when passenger trains stopped at the Helena Depot on their way to and from Montgomery. If there was a passenger train that came through here that could get me back and forth to Birmingham every day, I’d proudly hang my car keys by the front door!
Comment by Brian R. August 19, 2006 @ 8:40 pmHey Dre-
One simple point…who will be able to afford to use this toll bridge? The poor workers who are already unable to get to jobs along 280? The public discussion seems to be focused on the poor suburbanites stuck in traffic…but maybe it’s the truly poor low-income workers who have to suffer a terribe public transit system that we should be planning for.
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