3 lanes from CR to I-80? (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City: crime rates, neighborhood, living)

[metro223]

i-380 between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids is a completely different story. No conjestion atall on a normal day.

[SharpHawkeye]

I completely support widening I-80 through Iowa City. That one's really needed to separate the local traffic from the "blitzing through at 90 on my way to Chicago" crowd. I have no idea why it's taking so long. My guess is money issues, maybe some environmental stuff.

I don't like widening 380 though, because I think there are better options. Carpooling, a bus service between the two cities, rail, ect.

[Chris19]

I agree with SharpHawkeye on the I-80 widening through Iowa City. I think that it should be widened throughout Iowa. Near that area, the traffic is heavy. The widening would improve safety. My mom and I almost got into a collision with a semi-truck who pulled in front us and cut us off and that was near Iowa City where the traffic was heavy. In the cases of overcrowded roads, I wonder how many people have to get into accidents and possibly die before roads get improved.

[metro223]

I think the i-380 / i-80 interchange should be changed from a cloverleaf type interchange to a stack interchange, where you don't have to loop to get from one to the other. This intersection is now too busy for a cloverleaf and its dangerous merging on and off, is also easy to slide or roll especially for semi-trucks.

Just an Example:


I don't think it would need to be a full-fledged stacker like this one, but could be partial, like the North Mixmaster and West Mixmaster in Des Moines, or another example would be the i-380 / U.S. 30 intersection in South Cedar Rapids.

[Chris19]

I agree with metro223 on this. I can recall that interchange and it is outdated. I also view the traditional cloverleaf intersections as being outdated for today's traffic patterns and volumes. Minneapolis has one where 494 and 35W meet and that one is a nightmare to go through. Sioux Falls has one and is a pain along with a few in Kansas City.

[Busch71]

Originally Posted by SharpHawkeye

Well, there's been a push to open up passenger rail between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. I'd rather see that than another few lanes on 380.

Officials still mulling area commuter train (http://media.www.dailyiowan.com/media/storage/paper599/news/2007/01/23/Metro/Officials.Still.Mulling.Area.Commuter.Train-2668182.shtml - broken link)

In addition to the environmental advantages, I'll share one detail from the article.

Passenger Commuter Service from Iowa City to Cedar Rapids (with optional North Liberty, CR Airport and Amana Colonies service): $70m

Adding one new lane to I-380: ~$400m

The difference is that people actually do drive their cars, they most likely won't ride the train. Spend the money where it's needed most, on roads, not trains. You sound like the goons out here in Portland that think lightrail (The MAX), buses (Tri Met) and bike paths are the answer to everything. I hate to break it to you, it's not!

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by Busch71

The difference is that people actually do drive their cars, they most likely won't ride the train. Spend the money where it's needed most, on roads, not trains. You sound like the goons out here in Portland that think lightrail (The MAX), buses (Tri Met) and bike paths are the answer to everything. I hate to break it to you, it's not!

Isn't Portland an example of a mass transit system in the US that they've actually made hugely successful?

102,000 people use MAX on an average weekday, and it takes 72,000 cars off the highways. How can that be bad?

The US is really the only significant country in the world that tries to function on cars instead of mass transit. Even in Canada they utilize mass transit far far more than we do in the US.

[Busch71]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Isn't Portland an example of a mass transit system in the US that they've actually made hugely successful?

Hugely successful for what, criminals? If that's what you mean then yes, it's been a huge success. The criminals just hop on the Max and commit crimes all over the city. They keep claiming it's so safe but yet the areas of highest crime in the city are all within 1/2 mile of a MAX stop. There's people attacked every week at MAX stops, on the Max itself, and large amounts of crime in surrounding areas and it just keeps getting worse.

102,000 people use MAX on an average weekday, and it takes 72,000 cars off the highways. How can that be bad?

The US is really the only significant country in the world that tries to function on cars instead of mass transit. Even in Canada they utilize mass transit far far more than we do in the US.

If you want to ride then ride it. Most people don't, they want to drive their cars, or have to drive their cars because their schedules, where they live and where they work don't match up with mass transit or they'd rather not be around a bunch of ciminals fearing for their safety. Us car owners are the ones paying the taxes through gas taxes, license and registration fees, etc. yet we're the ones treated like sencond class citizens. While the city pisses away over $50 million for an idiotic tram for the hospital the roads are going to hell and the highways are so congested that no large industry want to come here. So much for job growth. Portland often is pointed out as an example of a success and even it has so many failings it's ridiculous. It's your typical goverment run failure that costs far too much and does too little. And by the way, this isn't any other country in the world and this isn't Canada, this is the United States. If you're so fond of how those other countries work then I suggest maybe looking into moving to one.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by Busch71

Hugely successful for what, criminals? If that's what you mean then yes, it's been a huge success. The criminals just hop on the Max and commit crimes all over the city. They keep claiming it's so safe but yet the areas of highest crime in the city are all within 1/2 mile of a MAX stop. There's people attacked every week at MAX stops, on the Max itself, and large amounts of crime in surrounding areas and it just keeps getting worse.

Now I don't know much about Portland, but do you really think that the presence of a train station creates crime? I would think that since poor folks are most likely to use public transportation, it makes sense to put train stations in those neighborhoods and the fact that there's a train station there is an independant factor in this.


I never use public transportation, but I'd definitely use it if we had an efficient system a la DC.

[Chicago60614]

The crime rate on MAX is actually only about 1 incident per 100,000 riders. There have been a few high profile crimes that happened at stations, and this has made people associate crime with the train lately. In the 5 neighborhoods that have seen the trains move in recently, 5 have seen crime actually decline, and 2 have seen it increase.

Everyone seems to have issues with mass transit, and want everyone ELSE to take it so traffic isn't so congested. I'm sure Portland would be much more fun to drive in if those 102,000 riders were trying to drive to work.