An article in the Lakeland Ledger yesterday stated that Polk County commissioners have voted to put the CSX terminal and commuter rail placed on hold until it can be further studied.
Of course, it is important to know as much as possible about a project before starting. But improving transit is not something that should be forced to wait in Central Florida. Especially if this further investigation the commissioners are requesting is superfluous.
This blog has previously discussed the transformation of Haines City and the I-4 Corridor into a bedroom suburb of Orange and Osceola. If that is indeed the region's future (and present reality) then rapid transit ought to be of the highest concern for city planners and tri-county area leaders.
In a second article on Thursday, the Ledger reported that Lake Alfred officials are "ecstatic" about a road construction project that will widen 17-92 as it passes through the city. This project is being pushed through quickly following an incident of congestion that occurred when I-4 was closed.
The idea that building more roads will alleviate traffic is a fallacy. To lessen the traffic burden on I-4, Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties need to build rapid public transit, like the proposed commuter rail.
In Miami-Dade County, there is a need for more Metro-Rail lines, but there is a sentiment that it is almost too late. Because development is so dense, it would take massive restructuring of neighborhoods, large amounts of land acquisition, and lots of money.
If Central Florida wants to avoid a similar situation the counties involved need to act quicker than they have been. In the case of Orlando, existing sprawl may already make this an extremely difficult task. This request for further investigation needs to move quickly.
Friday, March 7, 2008
What to do About All That Traffic
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2 comments:
The main problem with central florida and mass transit is that they are very self centered. When I lived in Chicago sure the roads where busy but mass transit was even more packed. These people grew up with Mass Transit as part of there life. When a train derailed they didn't think twice about taking it the next day. In Central Florida people want to be in there own car. They think they that they can be an individual and be away from other people even though they are often the same clowns sitting in traffic listening to the same radio station right next to each other driving the same car.
Also the pure infrastructure behind mass transit causes many people to look at the implentation of putting in rail lines without disturbing existing development. This often puts stations out side of the original destination and therefore you have to call for a taxi(again since most people wont walk 2 blocks) therefore just making the problem worse with now money hungry crazy people driving. Where in cities like chicago the infrastructure caused urban development. Now some cities are finding out how to make Mass Transit work, like Gainesville. They just eliminate parking (allow like 1000-2000 spots) and force you take their bus system that runs through the core parts of the city. It helps but doesn't eliminate the problem often the buses cause more of a problem.
Also remember Florida is often made up of transplants from else where, these people often are of budget income (in their 60's) and anytime taxes come into play they shoot it down for the rest of us.
Just look at the monorail it was an admendment some makes up some somewhat incorrect statements the people vote and now its done. Guess we will always have to live with ever widening roads.
"Guess we will always have to live with ever widening roads."
It isn't that definite. We are going to run into serious problems if we don't change the way we develop Florida. It is already evident in places like Miami-Dade. Smart people are already making the cases for transit and smarter urban design. So let's be active and see what happens...
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