Thursday, April 14, 2011

Who needs roads?

We take our needs for roads for granted. If one is in disrepair, we budget some fix, automatically. At least, that's how I think about roads (arguably, I am not a city planner).

But the Seattle mayor, faced with plans to turn an aging viaduct by a costly tunnel, is asking: Do we need this road? Wouldn't we all be greener without this road? (Forced to find alternative modes of transportation, etc...)

Not everyone agrees. “Social engineering works in some places, like banning cigarettes in some places,” said Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat. “Telling people you no longer can ride in your car isn’t going to work because this city is going to grow.”

 New York Times story here.

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1 comments:

  1. The concept of replacing asphalt and concrete roads with photovoltaic, energy producing materials is under investigation by a company funded in part by the DOE. This research could result in roads that actually Pay Back! Another element in the concept is that electric vehicles driving over these roads would actually be able to charge on the fly via inductive charging. Technology allows for great opportunities to change the way we do things, for the better: http://www.wimp.com/solarhighways/

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