In urban areas where growth is a constant, like Sacramento, building roads to keep up with growth is an appropriate strategy as the public vastly prefers using their cars to get places than any other mode of transportation, none of which has the ease, portability, carrying capacity and speed of cars.
Back-seat driver: Freeways top county list in state traffic proposals
By Tony Bizjak - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Monday, December 18, 2006
Call it a road builders' Gold Rush. The first $4.5 billion of last month's monumental $20 billion statewide transportation bond is now up for grabs to counties and regions that prove they can use it fast to build projects that will reduce congestion.
Sacramento area leaders entered the fray last week by submitting more than a dozen projects they think meet the state's criteria for funding from the new Corridor Mobility Improvement Act. The Sacramento list is mainly focused on freeways, and that has caused some advocates for trains, transit, and pedestrian- and bike-supportive land-use lamenting what they say is short-sighted planning.
However, state transportation officials have made it clear their goal with the new corridor mobility program is to ease congestion on major vehicle routes, such as freeways.
