Agenda - 02-05-1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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, , 1` y .1 . : e .�. w== r:':.f 7,--...4.12,;Z_'`` � `._,. . . g... „ . _... . . r.„,...„...,..„-„.., . . , _ .. . ._ Express Yourself parks, further and further out: until MR. SPECTATOR: conceivably the whole region is one big the Triangle Express sprawl. from Henderson to Fayetteville. Cold S trolley i P proposal values nearly doubled all along the to build a trolley Ionic linking the region: I ��' think it's the bit idea I've heard in all the Portland lice.even before the trolleys started I've lived here. The Triangle running. If we build Triangle Express, the years density will follow it. If we wait for the desperately needs some sort of transit system: si it won't. has need den needed one, in fact. for years now. sir to need Triangle Express volleys. • Transportation planners land others) who ive,visionary Express trolleys. scoff at Triangle Express remind me of the We n�progressive,ss�av anary tr nspo and Victorian zoologist who, seeing a giraffe for planners rs ive politicians with nd the first time, exclaimed "There is no such equally p�� pair vision. guiding animal!" "Transportation." to them, means strength to ears, and "planning" is making more roads development into corridors transit can serve. for cars to run on. Alternatives are beyond We don':and to follow the same old "more their blindered comprehension. They should roads"pattern of past years— it's ruined our visit Portland. Oregon, whose recently built downtowns. polluted our air, decimated out trolley line is so popular that it had to double farms and forests with urban sprawl. We've its capacity, even on weekends. The been on that wrong track—or road—far too Department of Transportation. no less. says long. It's high time for a new direction. that the line has eliminated 15 million auto Smith trips a year. and is urging Portland to build MaD'rlin ins K K.. N.C. more. The Portland line probably isn't recouping its cost: neither would Triangle Express. Neither will the Outer Loop. the Parkway. or the widening of 1-40 and 1-85. Consider mass transit Incidentally, the cast of the Outer Imp (serving only Raleigh)would be 5100 million; The concept of efficient, affordable the cost of Triangle Express (serving she mass transit for the Triangle is o�erdue. whole region)—5=75 million.That's a savings According to the Federal Highway of Sc million (of our tat. dollars). plus Administration, areas with populations immeasurable savings o an cleaner air, less under 1 million that are experiencing urban sprawl and a safer watershed. These same ex its say that we haven't rapid growth can expect congestion the density to support mass transit. implying increases of more than 1,000 percent that if we wait 20 or 30 years, enough over the next 2D years. skyscrapers and apartment blocks will have Surely cities such as Los Angeles. been built on every corner to feed a rail line. Dent Denver and Houston are examples of I doubt it. The growth will probably follow what accommodating Houstong are automobile the same pattern as before:more roads•more has done. In'these cities, 90 percent of followed by loops and suburbs, al wide oink the workers commute by car.as opposed followed by more suburbs. malls and office to 40 percent in European cities where efficient mass transit is in place. In California the average commuter speed is 33 mph. By the year 2000. allowing for population growth. it is expected to drop to 15 mph. The loss of valuable land required for roads and parking should be of major concern. Close to half of all urban space in the United States is used to accommo- date the automobile. Policies have long postured auto de- pendence at the expense of cost- effective, environmentally sound alter- natives. it's time to reconsider these • policies. JODY SITZ Chapel Hill