The HOV lane stood as a monument to government waste and arrogance.
An "experiment" that caused dozens of accidents and tens of thousands of hours of time lost to commuters on their way to work every morning, the HOV lane cost $250,000 to set up and was the product of false figures generated and supported by several local government officials who SHOULD have known better.
They CALLED it an "experiment," but even though it never hit its targets, worsening an already terrible traffic situation, these clowns were incapable of admitting any wrongdoing. So the "experiment" went on... and on... and on... because Portland lackies like the mayor of "America's Vancouver" were afraid of offending his Portland masters.
This became yet another icon of an uncaring, nonresponsive government... not unlike a government with the monumental gall needed to sue its citizens into silence.
Drivers jeer, cheer end of HOV lane
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
By DON JENKINS, Columbian staff writer
Instead of cussing the morning rush-hour drive from Vancouver to Portland, one Interstate 5 commuter toasted his trip to work Tuesday.
"Fabulous," said Brush Prairie resident Jim Teague.
While officials caution against rushing to conclusions, commuters are getting first impressions this week about the effect of opening the high-occupancy-vehicle lane through Vancouver to all traffic.
"It's really a positive, positive move to get the HOV lane out of there," said Teague, an insurance company executive. "The improvement in the traffic flow is evidence of the fallacy of the whole concept from the beginning."
The Washington Department of Transportation on Monday eliminated the car-pool lane between Northeast 99th Street and Mill Plain Boulevard, a 4-mile stretch that stopped just north of the Interstate 5 Bridge.
The move ended a four-year experiment in moving more people but fewer vehicles into Portland by giving car pools and mass transit an edge.
More...
An "experiment" that caused dozens of accidents and tens of thousands of hours of time lost to commuters on their way to work every morning, the HOV lane cost $250,000 to set up and was the product of false figures generated and supported by several local government officials who SHOULD have known better.
They CALLED it an "experiment," but even though it never hit its targets, worsening an already terrible traffic situation, these clowns were incapable of admitting any wrongdoing. So the "experiment" went on... and on... and on... because Portland lackies like the mayor of "America's Vancouver" were afraid of offending his Portland masters.
This became yet another icon of an uncaring, nonresponsive government... not unlike a government with the monumental gall needed to sue its citizens into silence.
Drivers jeer, cheer end of HOV lane
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
By DON JENKINS, Columbian staff writer
Instead of cussing the morning rush-hour drive from Vancouver to Portland, one Interstate 5 commuter toasted his trip to work Tuesday.
"Fabulous," said Brush Prairie resident Jim Teague.
While officials caution against rushing to conclusions, commuters are getting first impressions this week about the effect of opening the high-occupancy-vehicle lane through Vancouver to all traffic.
"It's really a positive, positive move to get the HOV lane out of there," said Teague, an insurance company executive. "The improvement in the traffic flow is evidence of the fallacy of the whole concept from the beginning."
The Washington Department of Transportation on Monday eliminated the car-pool lane between Northeast 99th Street and Mill Plain Boulevard, a 4-mile stretch that stopped just north of the Interstate 5 Bridge.
The move ended a four-year experiment in moving more people but fewer vehicles into Portland by giving car pools and mass transit an edge.
More...
Thank GOD! The only thing that scares me is they probably have something else up their sleeve to inhibit the movement of traffic. I've got it, why don't they just take one lane each way and convert it into LOOT RAIL!!!
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