Reading between the lines

Today’s Post-Gazette had a lot (seven, by my count) of interesting articles about roads, transit, gas prices, and bicycling. Reading them all is an instructive lesson in the general mindset of our car-centered society.

The story that got me most worked up was the one about the long-time-coming expressway that is supposed to connect Pittsburgh to points south. It’s a multi-billion dollar debacle that, when it is completed, will only hasten the demise of the city of Pittsburgh as well as the countryside surrounding it.

It’s a ridiculous notion, spending a couple of billion dollars for 70 miles of roads just so some poor schmuck who lives in a town far removed from the city can turn his thankless three-hours per day commute into just a little over two.

Cities have houses in them for a reason. Back in the day before subsidized road construction and government-supported exodus to the suburbs, people used to live in the cities they worked in, or at least within a reasonable distance. Huge highways were unnecessary because people had other alternatives when faced with the question of how to best get to jobs, stores, and entertainment. Now, however, we are so single-mindedly obsessed with making the automobile the de facto standard that little opportunity exists for any other type of mobility.

Building this road won’t do a whit of good. It’s a proven fact that traffic grows to occupy whatever space it is given. So tear through the hills and cut down the trees. Pave the world over. And bask in this gloriously ugly landscape of concrete, smog, and cheap architecture. Just know that when all is said and done, the roads will be just as filled as before, the city will be even emptier, our air will be dirtier, our pocketbooks lighter, and we as a society will be none the richer for it.

May 30 2004