Oregon can't keep up as traffic bogs down
The state's busiest stretch of road, Interstate 84 in Portland, is a maddening snarl during rush hour. Traffic slows from 65 mph to a crawl. Cars inch forward as they struggle to enter the city in the morning and leave in late afternoon.
With no room to widen the lanes, ODOT spokesman Dave Thompson said it's an example of what the department faces across the state: Demand for roads far outpaces supply.
In the absence of enough road space, the department uses what it calls intelligent transportation to better manage traffic flows.
That includes reader boards on the roadside to alert drivers to impending congestion, red-and-green ramp meters that control the stream of cars merging onto a highway and a Web site that provides commuter information.
"A better-informed driver makes better choices," Thompson said.
And what choice would that be Mr. Thompson? Stay home from work? How many employees does ODOT use to manage the reader boards, ramp meters, and website that basically all say the same thing: traffic sucks.
5 comments:
One word. Three letters. b-u-s.
Another: MAX.
Last one: Buh bye!
Have you ever been on I-84, there is precious little space to expand without the government being forced to pay to knock out a bunch of businesses?
As to say, Hwy. 26, they are trying to fix that. The problem is that, like throughout the country, Oregon's road system was built for a much smaller population but more lanes just begets more traffic and more pollution.
I got it!
The Mount Hood Freeway.
Oh yeah, we libs KILLED IT in the 1980's!
Remember that crushing loss?
We do!
What is the solution for people whose job isn't on a bus/MAX line? Or is a couple miles off? Should they walk in the rain?
Sailor has it right, we need to increase infrastructure. Obviously the population in Oregon has grown, now let's imagine that government decided to build all infrastructure at the same way they do roads: we would be sitting in the dark (no power poles/lines) with no water (no new water pipes) and probably with our doors boarded shut due to criminals running loose (no new jails).
but more lanes just begets more traffic and more pollution.
More lanes means less stop and go traffic so it would be less pollution.
Buildin' mo'e roads be neva' de answer. Ah be baaad... Long live MAX, long live Tri-met. Man! You's should carpool and save bre'd besides rada' dan use yo' gas guzzlin' Republican cars. ah' suppo't da damn environment, ya' should too. 'S coo', bro.
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