![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
Endless Highways - USA - Freeway lifestyle nears a dead end
Multi-lane blacktop makes economy thrive, spurs social upheavalSan Jose,CA, USA -The San Jose Mercury News, by Patrick May -Sep. 03, 2006: -- ... Head south to Long Beach and the dilemma over 710 -- as well as the entire interstate system -- comes into focus. You won't be alone on what L.A. traffic reporter Richard Turnage calls "one of our most dangerous freeways.''... Forty-thousand trucks move daily into and out of the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Together they form the nation's busiest cargo entry point... Forty-two percent of all goods coming into the country passes through what McNichol calls our "umbilical cord to China.''... The container rigs headed out of the ports are warehouses on wheels, supporting a just-in-time system that delivers the food on our tables and roofs over our heads. But with the 710's truck traffic expected to more than double by 2030, and the port highway already over capacity, the interstate that carries them teeters on collapse... "The 710 is approaching the end of its life,'' says Ernest Morales, the transportation official involved in a proposed widening of 710. "If we don't do something, we'll reach a limit to our goods movement, which is the lifeblood of this country.''... But, says Poole of the Reason Foundation, "all these things we've come to take for granted as affordable, wonderful choices at Wal-Mart, we can't ensure will continue.''...
"But truck traffic has been growing faster than car traffic. And now trucking has become the 800-pound gorilla, sitting in the middle of the room.''... Diridon, the Silicon Valley transportation guru, says cajoling motorists out of their cars and onto mass transit and moving more freight over rail lines are crucial steps. Otherwise, he says, "our whole economy will falter."... "We've built all the lanes we can,'' he says. "We're up against the houses, and we're still congested most commute hours.''... Then again, maybe that's where California's caffeinated, pedal-to-the-metal way of life will finally grind to a halt -- bumper to bumper, tempers rising, pressed up against the sound wall...
posted by Unknown @ 10:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home