Posted on Monday August 24th by Jebediah Reed | 107
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- Robert Samuelson, who writes about economics for the WaPo (and should never be confused with real life economist Paul Samuelson) picks up on last weeks’ NY Times series on high speed rail, and declares it’s “antisocial” to support passenger rail investment. Ahem. (WaPo)
- Our friend Michael Dukakis, by contrast, celebrates the fact that New England’s governors finally got together and created a regional rail plan. Particularly cool: A rail-linked “knowlege corridor” of New England universities in the spirit of N. Carolina’s Research Triangle. (Boston Globe)
- Russia is having a crisis of confidence in its infrastructure after a hydro dam ruptured week, killing at least 70 and sending local electricity prices spiraling. Many of the basic structures in that country are crumbling after decades of underinvestment. (NYT)
- Maryland’s dumb-as-dirt plan to spend $5 billion widening an exurban freeway would involve seizing 251 private homes. One columnist dubs the project–which would be the most expensive in the state’s history–the “Maryland Sprawlway.” (Balt Sun)
- Chicago sold the rights to its parking meters to Morgan Stanley for $1.2 billion. But now a taxpayer group is suing to invalidate the much-criticized deal. In June, a Chi-town’s inspector general found the city had been massively shortchanged. (Reuters)
- The city of Denver, which is facing a budget shortfall, is looking at doing a similar deal, but officials claim they have learned lessons from Chicago’s mistakes and would maintain control over both parking rates and the meters themselves. (Denver Daily News)
- Suburban agriculture is taking off across the country, creating pressure to change local laws that prevent people keeping backyard chicken coops. In one Indiana burg, the movement is referred to as the “chicken underground.” (Indy Star)
Image: For bootleg urban poultry growers, the “Hen Condo” — a backyard chicken coop disguised as a trash can.
August 25th, 2009 at 9:15 am
The Baltimore Sun also editorialized against expanding the Bay Bridge, which connects the Maryland mainland to the Eastern Shore. There was an collision there in which an 18-wheeler plunged into the Bay. The Bridge is not built to modern safety standards and is inadequate to handle its current traffic load. The Baltimore Sun doesn’t mind people perishing for it’s smart growth fantasies. I hope 270 is widened ultimately. Maryland is a growing state and traffic inexorably grows along with population increases and economic growth. If you want lightly trafficed roads you can find them in upstate NY, where everyone has fled for Texas and North Carolina.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/bal-baybridge-pg,0,7743709.photogallery
August 25th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Residential takings related to 2nd Ave. subway project.
http://78thand2nd.typepad.com/blog/2007/10/mta-searches-fo.html
You guys must be appalled.
August 25th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Eric,
You are dramatizing a tragedy to advocate for expansion of roads. That was an underaged driver, late at night, who had been drinking. The real tragedy is the lack of accountability for her actions, not the bridge design.
An expanded Bay Bridge is not necessary for beach traffic. People just need to leave at off-peak hours or take I-95 to DE Rt 1. We shouldn’t spend billions on a bridge because people are too stupid to commute off-peak. I never sit in traffic.
August 25th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Eric’s a troll, and the accident he brings up is yet more evidence that we need to get more freight off the roads and onto the rails.
August 25th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Yes, Eric, we’re appalled that a man was made to move 3 blocks. Absolutely appalled.