If there is a road you travel on in the metro that

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by knke0204

You are right-

Mind you, in the 1940s when the interstate was being discussed, Americans were still adapting their lifestyles to the automobile. It was still a fairly new commodity. roads were amature at their best, and cities were still designed to cater to the pedestrian. Hey, it's not a coincidence that almost every major city in the USA started to see MAJOR population declines right around the SAME time freeways were built. (Well, FHA and VA Mortgages helped to buy homes and land too). MPLS had nearly 600,000 in the 1950s down to about 380,000 now.

Back then, planners saw even the simpliest of roads to be eyesores. Thats why many major streets and boulevards from the past are lined with giant trees. The original idea was to have the freeway dug IN almost like a canal.

And even to this day, these highways remain eyesores!

[Globe199]

Originally Posted by stmp692

Does your plumber tell you that if you install a bigger pipe to the toilet, your poo will get more girth?

Capacity does not cause more trips. If it did, places like Pittsburgh and Buffalo would have serious traffic problems. A lot of it has to do with economic activity.

Wrong.

Induced demand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Voyageur]

Originally Posted by tijlover

What this country needs to do is face up to the fact we're rapidly becoming a third world country and plan accordingly. Freeways are 1st world. We're no longer 1st world. We're 2nd world going on 3rd.

This is exceptionally ridiculous. The term "First World" was used to describe the United States and its allies during the Cold War. If the definition remains applicable to the post-Cold War era, then it still by definition includes the United States.

Further, the First-Second-Third World categorization was not a scale. The Second World was the Soviet Union and its allies. At best, there are a couple of Second World nations left today - North Korea and Cuba (again, only presuming the term has any meaning left in the Post-Cold War era). "Second World" wasn't a stage between the First and Third Worlds.

I read in some rural areas of the country (notably Michigan) they're begining to rip up paved rural roads and reverting back to gravel. The county governments simply can't afford it anymore.

Some gravel roads in rural areas? Horrors! I'm sure reverting to horse-drawn carriages and steam locomotives will happen any day now!

Or... not...

There are lots of gravel roads, gravel roads that have never been paved roads. Big deal. I assime you're referring to this:
Paved roads going back to gravel - DailyPress.net | News, Sports, Jobs, Escanaba Information | The Daily Press

It says 100 miles of county roads in Michigan have been reverted to gravel from paving over the past few years. But Michigan counties have almost 90,000 miles of roads (so 100 miles is a fraction of 1%). Frankly, I'm surprised more roads aren't being down-graded. Some roads, due to shifting populations, have less usage today than previously. It is entirely appropriate to down-grade certain roads.

What a big fuss that would create in the Twin Cities one day! Ripping up I-35 and reverting back to gravel. Imagine the dust that would create! Driving to work and back with a face mask! And dusting off your car every day!

This is even more ridiculous than your claim that the United States is a Second World nation.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by stmp692

Does your plumber tell you that if you install a bigger pipe to the toilet, your poo will get more girth?

Capacity does not cause more trips. If it did, places like Pittsburgh and Buffalo would have serious traffic problems. A lot of it has to do with economic activity.

Right, because my bachelor's degree in economics taught me nothing about induced demand.

(ok, I was 1 class short of being a double major in Urban Planning and Economics, but the two together I learned a little bit about interstate planning and the economics behind it)