Posted by AG in IN on August 11, 2013 at 21:15:24 from (67.237.16.128):
In Reply to: toll roads posted by Ultradog MN on August 11, 2013 at 10:56:27:
MarkB_MI said: (quoted from post at 02:33:59 08/12/13) So... I guess you're fully in favor of raising fuel taxes to build new roads and fix up the ones we already have. How much of a tax increase do you think is fair? Another buck a gallon on top of what you're already paying? Or would you be willing to support two bucks a gallon?
The reality is that in today's political climate, NOBODY is going to get a road tax increase passed. Most legislators are terrified to even suggest one. So that leaves three remaining options: don't build any new highways, let existing highways and bridges fall apart to fund new roads, or make all new highways toll roads. Take your pick.
In recent years, several new turnpikes have been built in southern California. This is LA, home of the freeway, where driving on toll-free roads is considered a birthright. Yet I can guarantee you that the folks who use those toll roads are very happy to have the opportunity to pay for a shorter commute.
Our county leaders were far from "terrified" about the potential political reprocussions of additional road taxes. Our county passed some "wheel taxes" a few years back, with a couple of public meetings they all but slept through and a vote afterwards. An additional $25/year per car/pickup, and up from there for other vehicles and trailers for what was supposed to solve all of the funding issues for county road reconstruction projects for the entire county of over a quarter of a million people. Just another one of those "temporary" taxes that go on and on, and eventually up, forever and ever and only ever deliver on a small slice of the promised pie. We're still getting the same "spray some tar/rock mix in potholes once in a great while from a machine, creating a permanent washboard on a paved road" and "dump some cold patch in completely collapsed/missing spots, smear it with a truck blade or road grader, and cover it up ASAP with chip-and-seal so nobody can see the mess they've made every four or five years or so" jobs we've been getting for the last decade or two, and not any more frequently than before, either.
We did get to see a nice road/bridge built over the Indiana Toll road a couple of townships over. New 4-lane road with bike lanes 5 bikers a day might use instead of a 2-lane road that would more than handle ten times it's current traffic levels along with an overly-fancy new 4-lane bridge that somebody never bothered to paint. It's a lovely shade of rust, and a fitting representation of the decay on so many levels of the area. That bridge will rot and collapse upon the Toll Road and the road will be used up, destroyed by salt, freeze-thaw, and lack of maintenance in the same amount of time as a 2-lane road, both needing a complete rebuild long before the road/bridge would ever have near enough traffic to demand 4-lanes.
LA also has some major costs added to each mile of road construction to deal with earthquake risk, more bridges, and creative interchanges to deal with the massive mess of roads they've already created.
AG
This post was edited by AG in IN at 07:02:27 08/12/13.
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