The most striking aspect of Dino Rossi’s transportation “plan” (you know, other than its complete and utter bullshittiness), is its almost total focus on road-building at the expense of expanded transit options. In fact the only nod toward transit in the entire plan is Rossi’s proposal to divert Sound Transit money toward building additional miles of HOV lanes on 405 and elsewhere on the Eastside.
But even that’s a total crock of shit, for even if Rossi could get around the thorny constitutional constraints that gives a governor zero control over local tax dollars (and he can’t), at the same time he’s proposing building more HOV lanes, he’s also proposing opening these lanes up to single occupancy traffic throughout most of day, which in a region fast approaching 24-hour rush hour makes the HOV designation virtually meaningless.
So in essence, Rossi proposes taking money Sound Transit has socked away for building light rail to Bellevue, and spending it instead on building more general purpose freeway lanes — he just calls them “HOV” lanes and hopes voters and reporters won’t notice. Well, we did.
Would I buy a house from this man? HELL NO!!
I mentioned before, I saw the folly of opening up HOV lanes to general purpose traffic during the snow/ice storm the monday after Thanksgiving, 2006.
Shortly before 7:00 p.m. I left Bellevue, heading home to Everett. Snow was falling, but the roads appeared to be okay, so I tuned into KIRO to hear the last of the monday-night Seahawks game. Big mistake, I missed the traffic reports I would have heard on other stations.
Right at Totem Lake (but too late to exit) I hit a wall of stopped cars. Right before 7:00 p.m. every other car in the left-hand lane shifts over into the HOV lane, which becomes a general-purpose lane at 7:00 a.m. Now the HOV lanes is equally crowded, but nobody is getting anywhere any faster than they were before.
The problem, I learned much later, was that an articulated bus and a semi had trouble on the icy downgrade leading to the Wooodinville/Lake Forrest Park interchange, stopping all traffic until they could be cleared. Surely, considering the importance of the route, DOT tow trucks would soon arrive, and sanding trucks would reduce the slip-n-slide aspect of that portion of the road?
But the shoulders on both sides had become parking lots also, as scores of vehicles overheated, ran out of battery power, or ran out of gas while waiting hours in traffic that was essentially standing still. Now that the HOV lanes were similarly blocked, there was NO WAY for DOT vehicles to move forward to remedy the situation.
I arrived home about 5:00 a.m. the next morning.
So the next time somebody claims that they should be able to use the HOV lane on “non-commute” time, remember this example, and ask whether their arrival some three minutes earlier than usual (if at all) is worth creating these types of problems.
Washington State Republicans hate HOV lanes because they see them being used by bus riders and carpoolers, who they presume are Democrats. How dare they! Don’t they know that only Republicans should be allowed special benefits from any project paid for by public tax dollars? Just put on nominal fee – not big enough to actually PAY for anything, but big enough so that only the wealthy could pay for it on a regualr basis – thereby reserving it for their exclusive use.
I hope Rossi releases some other plans. I love a good joke now and then.
The number one objective of the neoconservatives (and let’s get this straight: Rossi is one) is to do everything to encourage us to drive our cars, while at the same time embarking on military adventures to reduce worldwide oil production and drive the price up. That’s right–to them the Iraq war has been a smashing success precisely because it’s kept that country’s production far below even what it had sunk to under Saddam.
Remember Cheney’s “energy summit” at the beginning of the Bush (mis)administration? That wasn’t about ameliorating the impending crisis. Rather it was directed at promoting and exploiting it to the maximization of corporate profits.
That so many Americans remain so desperately eager to sign up to be victims of all this is truly remarkable.
sxwuxwá’us
For those ignorant of this is salish for Thunderbord!
What Rossi needs is a Northwest version of the Shinkansen, Japan’s lightning train. At 200mph. the Sxwuxwá’us could make Spokane to Seattle in 1 1/4 hrs … fast enough so some folks might choose to commute.
Not only that, we could build a new Airport at Ellensburg and connect it to Seattle via the Sxwuxwá’us .. whoosh bang, 40 minutes ot down town!
# 6: Well, why not build a new airport at Moses Lake? You already have a big landing strip there capable of handling the biggest jets (Boeing uses it as it’s backup facility for test flights).
As it is, I already have to plan 1-1/2 hours just to get to SeaTac from Everett (leaving a little extra time for unexpected traffic problems). I’d love to see a limited number of commercial flights from Paine Field to outlying airports in the Los Angeles area (example: Everett to Burbank, possibly Long Beach). But I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.
By the way, the Japanese are in the process of expanding the Shinkansen. If you ever get a chance to ride on one, please do so. It’s very nice – smoother than an airplane, and it’s on-time performance is legendary (in contrast, over half of U.S. flights are over on-half hour late now).
About Your Podcasts(couldn’t find another place to share this suggestion):
When you make an Mp3 file I think it would be a good idea to add the name of the artist and the “album title” into the info about the file. Because otherwise some Mp3 players won’t recognize the file and one has to manually search for it among the hundreds of songs on the Mp3 player instead of quickly retrieving it from the directory that arranges Mp3 files according to the “artist name” and “album title” which you leave out. Right now I have to enter that info myself to easily find it on my player but other people might have trouble finding your file on their player and not listening to the podcast as a result.
Thanks.
By the way, at least one sports writer is bemoaning the potential move of the Sonics to Oklahoma City:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....hat21.html
““As a longtime NBA traveler, I’d much rather see the SuperSonics in Seattle,” wrote Sam Smith of The Sporting News. “It’s a beautiful city with phenomenal restaurants and culture and a quirky populace that makes you wonder at times if the country tipped in the late 1960s and the hippie movement landed there and stayed. It’s a place unlike any in the U.S.
“Among the best last meals has to be the Copper River salmon available in the late spring.
“It hardly compares with my favorite IHOP in Oklahoma City.”
Hmm ..
it seems to me that we want the new Sxwuxwá’us airport as close to Seattle as possible so it can supplant Seatac.
Obviously a city will grow around the sxwuxwá’us terminal so someone is gonna get VERY rich.
Mo Lake may have an advantage if Boeing is gonne saty here, but I suspect Ellensberg is close enough to make them happy.
Yes, # 9 is arguably off-topic. But in the absence of any rational Republican defense of Reichart or Rossi, then I don’t see any reason for the space to go to waste.
Besides, maybe we should be asking Rossi what his plans are for keeping the Sonics in Seattle, and asking Reichart when he is going to launch a Congressional investigation into the NBA’s use of it’s monopoly power to extort money from taxpayers?
(More sounds of crickets chirping).
Rossi’s transportation scam looks like Tim Eyman wrote it.
@4 “I hope Rossi releases some other plans.”
I don’t think that’s a good idea.
@6 How about just shooting people into Seattle from Spokane inside artillery shells?
@11 “maybe we should be asking Rossi what his plans are for keeping the Sonics in Seattle”
I don’t think that’s a good idea.
@14 “How about just shooting people into Seattle from Spokane inside artillery shells?”
I don’t think that’s a good idea.
What’s wrong with Deeno’s “plan”? Since when does this “plan” differ from the others that they have spewed?
What the f*ck do you expect? Tim Eyeman pointing out the bullsh*t in the “plan?”
10: Well, Ellensburg is about 60 miles closer to the Seattle area than Moses Lake. At bullet-train speeds, that would be about an additional 20 to 30 minutes travel time. I guess the question is cost: how much is 30 minutes travel time worth, considering the cost of building a commercial runway?
Actually, SJ may be onto something. If we colonize eastern Washington with Seattle commuters, we’ll have the sagebrush counties voting blue in no time! Imagine a Grant County Board of Commissioners consisting of a U.W. prof, a black guy, and a Starbucks barista! It’s doable, folks! All we need to make it happen is rail rapid transit.
I’ve always found the argument for opening HOV lanes up during off commute hours to be illogical. If traffic is backed up, regardless of when, they are very useful to buses and carpools. If traffic is not backed up, what good would another lane be?
If anyone wants to purchase the ability to use them with a single occupancy vehicle, feel free. That option is currently available, all they have to do is be willing to pay the fine. In fact, I encourage it. It mitigates traffic in the other lanes and the state can use the revenue.
The cool things about my sxwuxwá’us proposal:
1. no one alive can pronounce it,
2. people who built into Seattle from Eastern Wa, will not have cars here so they will NEED light rail!
3. Seattle can build itself as regional entertainment center with overnite stays and a show.
4. Rich folks can relocate to Ellensburg where they can have huge estates and less wacky wack from environmentalists.
5.Sxwuxwá’us would require something more stable tan a floating bridge across Mercer Island. Either a tunnel or a suspension bdige. I favor the latter .. just think of the scenry!
Sxwuxwá’us Flies over Ranier.
Indeed that could be the logo, a sleek thunderbird flying over Mr. Ranier!
6. Of course this would make Seatac obsolete. We could replace it with a new sports complex.
7. Naturally Paul Allan would want his cut .. I assume he would own the downtown terminal for both the East-West sxwuxwá’us and, eventually for a NS version that would make Portland and Vancouver satellites of Seattle.
8. Maybe we could continue Sxwuxwá’us over P sound, opening up Bremerton for an expanded version of Bell town.
I suggest that sxwuxwá’us might be pronounced:
SEXWUCKS/ WA USA.
That means our shinkansen would be the SEXWUCS. What a great name for a new NBA tems .. the Seattle SEXWUCKS.
“What Rossi needs is a Northwest version of the Shinkansen, Japan’s lightning train.””
Why…so he can stand in front of it?
(Just Kidding. Ann Coulter “humor”.)
A major airport in Ellensburg? Are you kidding???? That’s consistently the windiest place in the entire state, and close enough to the arse end of the Cascades to make some nice big rotors in the middle of the traffic pattern.
At best, passengers would be advised to take plenty of Dramamine in advance. At worst, they’d better be prepared to kiss their asses goodbye.
C’mon, folks…let’s get right down to it: as the cost of fuel keeps going higher and higher, travel by air in general is going to start looking like a really silly proposition. Let’s transfer some engineers from Boeing to Paccar and get the hell to work on building fast trains from everywhere to anywhere.
@21 I think you might be hitting the saki.
Thanks for inviting me. I think we should
hire the Japanese to build just what you propose. I have rode those high speed beauties
and they built a marvelous transportation
system in more restricted areas than Seattle.
Lets CAN all the retards involved in roads
and transit and sub it to the land of the
rising sun. While were at it, Seattle Council,
King County Council, House, Senate, Congress
etc..
As a non-washingtonian, sometime visitor and political junky, this campaign Rossi has concocted makes me wonder what planet he’s been living on lately. Planet Jack Daniels?
Maybe Rossi is positioning himself as one of the few, most insane republicans qualified to apply to be occassional drinking buddy with little lord George Jr when that fool goes back to doing one of the few things he’s qualified to do and will do to forget being involved in things at which he was less proficient, like mascarading as Satan’s mascot. Or rather, George Jr will drink to celebrate that indeed he was very good at being the devil’s advocate.
Drink up, Rossi. The ruin you praise is near.
Good catch, Goldy.
I think Rossi’s got a lot of those “hope no one will notice” ideas.
Rossi is all talk on transportation. There’s no delivery in mind. He dances around questions that are too hard to answer, like how he’d balance a budget.
And yet his transportation rhetoric is treated seriously by the mainstream media.
Rossi should be held to the same standards he’s trying to hold Chris Gregoire to on transportation. Let’s compare what’s been delivered, and frame this debate within “what have you done and what can you get done” as opposed to “what are you for in your wildest dreams.”