Tee-hee!

And it is all the more laughable because the lessons that should have been learned  30 & 40 years ago…

….Seem to have gone unlearned.

Consider the upcoming couple of weeks at city council & commissions (thanks to a well-informed neighbor for these insights):

1. Tuesday May 3 5:30 PM City Council Discussion of “Transportation Improvement Plan 2012-2017.” (Actual TIP schedule here in pdf.) Why should a government body use the word ‘Transportation’ as cover for Road Building? It’s one thing for the Road Builders to use it. It’s clever, actually. To change your name from the “Road Builders” to the “Transportation Builders” it appears to furnish much broader cover for your interests. But if 99.4% of what will be discussed Tuesday is paving, shouldn’t it be listed as Council Discussion of Paving?

[And let’s not forget the loaded term “Improvement.” Um, improvement for whom? The paving expansions are certainly not improvements for people who breathe. Or who don’t like wars. Or who like clean drinking water. Or who like neighborly communities.]

2. City Streets Division says, First give us new pavement, too.
Board of Public Works Wednesday May 4 Agenda Item 29.
Here’s a top City priority! In this time of tight dollars ~ ‘We have no money’ ~ we apparently have money for the Streets Division to repave its 1501 West Badger Road asphalt parking lot and pavement area. There’s some kind of twisted irony in having Streets Division pavement be a top City priority. Here’s an opportunity for the City to demonstrate how Sustainable it is by installing permeable pavers as a demo project. Show the New Urbanism Conference people how thoughtful, progressive we are.

[Ditto the proposed expansion of the death zone known as Dutch Mill Park & Ride (Agenda Item 14). In fact, why expand it at all? Park & Rides are so 1973. The right thing would be to simply allow it to become more of a “kiss & ride” (drop off spot for inter-city bus passengers) rather than an isolated, “free” parking lot attracting crime (and it is a hot spot). Add to that, all of the ills associated with over-pavement: sealing off our aquifer, magnifying water quality problems, heat island generator, etc.]

3. Coming Attractions! MORE PAVEMENT AT MATC!!
MAY 16 Plan Commission set to consider tons more pavement at MATC – Yah! More impermeable surface! That’s what we need! There’s Education in Action!, heh? There’s educators setting a model. Add to Free Parking. Pave more of the earth. Tell kids (single-occupancy vehicles) to drive ever farther to get an ‘Education’. Drive, Kids. Don’t Worry! Plenty of Free Parking!

[Downstream from MATC’s planned flood generator? Emerson-East-Eken Park, Darbo-Worthington, Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara neighborhoods. Throw-away places, trashy people in the eyes of MATC administrators. The physical safety of your neighborhoods are not their concern. For those residents, le deluge.]

So there you have it: A city hardwiring itself for mandatory driving, mandatory energy gluttony, mandatory dirty water, mandatory flooding. Pave, Baby, PAVE!

But I would like to keep hope….

I really would.