Grand New Party, cont.
After finishing Ross and Reihan’s book, I was struck by the notion that they want to change the Republican party less than American society: restructuring farming; reimagining education; rebuilding (and expanding) the highway system–these (and many more) are their goals. Lofty stuff.
Leaving aside the obvious questions (namely, how do they pay for all the new government-mandated reforms and how long do we wait for the market to sort itself out on issues like education reform), and the things that Ross and Reihan ignore (like, say, the entirety of foreign policy), I’d like to focus on one problematic issue that I think is representative of the one minor failing of the book: widening the interstate system.
Now, I’m all for reducing traffic congestion. For the first 15 months or so after I graduated from college I lived in Stafford County, VA, and commuted into DC. Roundtrip, it was four hours. Every day. Slightly shorter when Congress was out of session; slightly longer when there was a massive pileup on I-95. I’m terribly sympathetic to the idea that widening traffic lanes will reduce that congestion and reduce carbon emissions to boot. Except that, well, it’s kind of unworkable. For starters: where are you going to put these extra lanes? It’s not simple NIMBYism in the DC area–the I-95 corridor is packed with homes and businesses on either side of the highway for long stretches. We’re talking about relocating thousands of homes and businesses if we really want to stretch things out horizontally. I think we’d probably be better off with expanding the rail system than the highway system, but that’s neither here nor there: the details of Ross and Reihan’s highway plan are very tricky.
But you wouldn’t know it from the book because on this issue (and most of the other sweeping ideas they propose), no real details are offered. It’s easy to wave a magic wand and say “Widen the highways!” or “Remove the ethanol subsidy!” It’s another thing entirely to make it happen. Again: I’m sympathetic to almost every idea they propose, but to make them happen we need a detailed plan.
That being said, you should definitely pick up a copy. Hopefully their big-think ideas will inspire a congressman with a knack for details and national aspirations to take action–someone like Rep. Paul Ryan, perhaps.
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8 Comments - add your own
Shannon — July 7, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Don’t take ‘widening’ so literally. Highway officials in southern california found an easy solution to add more lanes to the Harbor Freeway (110) south from downtown Los Angeles:
http://cjw.id.au/WordPress/?p=37
JohnMcC — July 7, 2008 at 4:47 pm
You don’t have enough imagination!! Add a 2d story. That’s even better than widening a freeway because you get to pour billions of yards of concrete and buy millions of tons of re-bar (after bidding for it against the Chinese). That’s how a real-by-God-conservative would do it. Seriously–here in St Petersburg that is the plan for Gandy Blvd, one of the Tampa-St Pete connectors. To make it even bigger and…well…bigger, it’s built over a bridge. Which will require rebuilding from it’s footings. Very very manly conservatives down here. Why do you hate America? You and your girly mass transit.
Sonny Bunch — July 7, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Shannon: I’m actually intrigued by the concept of elevated freeways running over regular freeways, but the idea strikes me as a massive death toll waiting to happen in an earthquake-prone place like California.
John: Mass transit is in fact girly, but it’s so convenient! I love convenience. It’s probably due to the laziness.
moqui — July 7, 2008 at 7:38 pm
They are widening the 405 in my neighborhood (Brentwood Glen, in West LA) as we speak.
So easy to wave a magic wand and dismiss ideas as “unworkable”
Mike — July 7, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I think you give these people too much credit. If you’ve been living outside the Beltway you know that there’s plenty of highway widening going on everywhere; for example, the main street of my neighborhood in Florida was 2 lanes 30 years ago and now its 8.
What good has it done?
1. Outer suburbs easier to get to, so more outer suburban development, leading to longer commutes, leading to more poverty as fuel prices rise;
and
2. Also leading to more money spent on oil (al-Qaeda says thanks).
And the original excuse for it all (reducing congestion) is pretty much a lie. When fuel was cheap, the roads got clogged as soon as they get built or widened, because the new development in the outer suburbs meant that more traffic went to those suburbs. And now that fuel is expensive, people are going to be driving less so congestion is a distinctly lower priority.
Sonny Bunch — July 7, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Moqui: It is easy! I should do that more often. For the record: I don’t think lane widening is impossible, in DC or elsewhere. It can certainly be done–in some cases easily, in some cases with massive invocation of eminent domain and years of backups due to construction before the benefits are realized. All I was saying is that some details would be nice…details, to be fair, that Ross and Reihan didn’t have room/time to address in their book.
Mike: I think you’re basically right that widening the lanes won’t solve the underlying problem. This is why I said I favor developing some sort of rail system. (Of course, I don’t have the details handy I clamor so loudly for…but then again, I’m a blogger! I’m allowed to pontificate without any deeper knowledge than “Someone oughta…”)
Michael — July 7, 2008 at 10:27 pm
How moronic! Did it ever occur to you and your up-and-coming DC yuppies NOT to live in Stafford County, or Fredeick County, etc.
You decide your lifestyle requires working in DC and living in “the country.” Next thing you know, you HAVE to have wider highways, you HAVE to have snow-plowing, you HAVE to have mail delivery, etc.
Now, the people who’ve lived in Stafford county for generations find their taxes going through the roof to support YOUR lifestyle. Then they either leave or disappear into the ranks of poverty, and assholes like you talk about how great Stafford County would be if the commute were easier and if it weren’t for the “rednecks.”
How self-centered can one be? Clearly you’re a Republican.
Sonny Bunch — July 7, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Michael: Well now, Michael…that’s a lot of assumptions to throw around. Without going too deeply into my life story, I think it’s fair to let you know that I didn’t just move to Stafford to live in some big McMansion, enjoy the country air, and look down on the rednecks. I grew up there (I even had a number of redneck friends!) and lived with my folks for a year or so after college because I didn’t have a job that offered much in the way of rent money.
So, you know, keep the guesses about people you know nothing of to a minimum. If you don’t mind.