OOPS! has to be the word of the day in Albuquerque Mayor Berry's 7th floor office today. He took one on the chin on trying to pass a $50 million dollar approval for sale of bonds on the Paseo del Norte interchange funding. Three city councillors insisted this go to the public and be voted on next November. Is it needed? Of course. Though one could describe it as payback for years of catering to westside Albuquerque homebuilders who, with city approval, kept pumping out more homes and leaving the infrastructure problems for someone else to worry about. (Next up is the intersection of I-25 and Highway 550 at Bernalillo.)
I can not imagine the six council supporters of skipping a bond election doing this on any other issue. This funding was just defeated last year on a vote when it was coupled in a log rolling incident with other projects the voters didn't want. So, unless there is a change of heart this will go to the voters in a few months. As it should.
Here is a wonderful video everyone should see. My friend Ned sent it to me. It shows in no uncertain terms just how thin the veil of life around our earth is and how little there is of it. And some of our rightwing congressmen and senators still won't believe we can pollute it to the point of extinction.
2 comments:
I've read about Albuquerque's and Bernalillo County's contribution to the Pase/I-25 cluster, but I've not read anywhere how much Rio Rancho and/or Sandoval County is ready to pony up. That alone makes me want to huge our enlightened council members for demanding this ABQ Taxpayer's subsidy for RR/SC. Next should requiring all Sandoval County (as well as Valencia and Santa Fe) residents to have emmission tests done on their vehicles too.
Why not stop building more roads and use those millions to buy more buses and lower the bus fare? Why not penalize all these people who drive huge SUVs and pickups downtown, alone, instead of car pooling and driving something sensible? Why not improve bicycle routes (Don't make people ride in traffic, either. Too many idiots driving around with head up rear end) and encourage or even incentivize commuting by bicycle somehow. Leave your SUV and pickup home, get a tax break. Sell them, get a bigger one.
These much vaunted captains of industry could do a lot to encourage and make it easier for their employees to take the bus or ride bikes. They could make work schedules coincide with bus schedules. They could allow time for bike commuting. They could encourage carpooling and commuting. Your department commutes, you get perks.
They could set an example.
They could go downtown and ask the city to work with them so people could get dropped off in front of their workplaces.
People in other countries can do it. It wouldn't take much of an attitude shift. People are lazy, yes, but that's more out of habit than anything. When they want something they'll work for it.
People fly past me every day on their way home so they can get home and start sitting on the couch 30 seconds sooner, but if you just let traffic on Paseo get worse, that won't work. People will sit in their cars for an hour, and when traffic clears up they will floor it and get home 30 seconds sooner than they would have. But when they hear their neighbor say they got home on the bus sooner than they did driving, they will take the bus. People are stupid that way.
Post a Comment