06-07-2008, 06:15 PM
[quote deckeda]
Thank goodness for our national Interstate Highway network, a thing that never would have happened without federal backing.
Yes, the interstate system is highly useful, but we have focused on it far too much. It has become a nightmare in places like Los Angeles, and it's also over developed in other areas.
I have driven between Sacramento and Salt Lake City a number of times, and once you get past Reno, there really is no justification - except for safety - to having four lanes of blacktop. Two lanes with passing lanes on hills would get the job done on most of that stretch of highway.
I suspect that the system was over developed for the same reason that Amtrak serves unproductive ares: politicians will not vote to fund something if it doesn't benefit their constituents.
Thank goodness for our national Interstate Highway network, a thing that never would have happened without federal backing.
Yes, the interstate system is highly useful, but we have focused on it far too much. It has become a nightmare in places like Los Angeles, and it's also over developed in other areas.
I have driven between Sacramento and Salt Lake City a number of times, and once you get past Reno, there really is no justification - except for safety - to having four lanes of blacktop. Two lanes with passing lanes on hills would get the job done on most of that stretch of highway.
I suspect that the system was over developed for the same reason that Amtrak serves unproductive ares: politicians will not vote to fund something if it doesn't benefit their constituents.