People in Northern Virginia want more transportation projects to ease traffic congestion—as long as they’re done slowly and don’t change anything..

This wasn’t a problem when NoVa was mostly cows. Cows pretty much take care of themselves, unlike the typical gov’t worker up in Applebuckstarbee’s Land.

We should round them all up and herd them back to where they came from. The people, not the cows. Not that I would actually participate. Just because I’d like something done dosen’t mean I’m actually willing to put forth any effort. Besides, it’s kinda nice to just sit here and complain. It makes me feel better than everyone else.

None of this surprises me.

Just a couple of the choicer comments from the WaPo opinion forum:

“Vdot finally learned that to get any roads built they cannot consider the input from every tom, dick, harry and jane. I don’t agree with contracting out highways to private companies---financial disaster for the state, but the no tax people caused that to happen because the Leg. listened to them.

Just get the damned roads built so we don’’t waste the rest of our lives sitting in traffic starring at the exhaust pipes of the cars in front of us.”

“...The public never really did have a choice. The ICC, HOT lanes, each and every single bit of overdevelopment in this area is already a done deal long before the so-called public hearings. Public hearings are just a formality to check a box - in reality, nothing the public says means anything to developers and their political friends.

The biggest example I can think of for this point of view is Metro West. There was a LOT of public outcry against this project - even from Congressman Tom Davis - but the developers didn’t care. In November 2006, they closed a parking lot at Vienna Metro to start construction on the project. To this day - a year and a half later - nothing, not a single thing, has been done except the loss of that parking lot.

I assure you that the project was not stopped because of the public outcry, or even the outcry from the Congressman. It was stopped because the developers decided to stop it. They are the ones who hold the real power. And when they decide they want to restart it, they’ll steamroll the project into action, public opinion notwithstanding.”

“-Costs:
Flour-Transurban, the private company working on the project, originally promised the HOT lanes construction “free” to the state, with overhead costs paid for by the company and re-couped through tolls. Due to cost re-estimates, Flour-Transurban requested and is now receiving 409 million(!) in grant funding from VA taxpayers and 585 million(!!) in federal taxpayer money. So first off, one must ask, what was wrong with their original estimates? Why the promise they could do the project on a totally private basis, but the late-in-the-game change?”

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My guess is the homeowners are getting the proverbial shaft but this is the NoVa that we have, not the NoVa that we would ideally like to have. The moral to this Aesop’s Fable is: “stay away from the Beltway”, grasshopper.

Well...I don’t care about them. What I want is cheaper gas BUT!!!!

No drilling. No new refineries, no propping up radical dictators, no profit for Snydley Whiplash Oil Execs.

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