Opinion: California deserves better roads
By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee
Let’s start with the basics about California’s highway network, which a few decades ago was considered to be among the world’s best.
It was mostly constructed in the three decades that followed World War II, as California’s population boomed and vehicular travel exploded.
Dan Walters
Eventually, however, just about when Jerry Brown began his first governorship, highway construction slowed dramatically for a wide variety of ideological (both left and right) and financial reasons.
Nevertheless, vehicular travel continued to expand, along with population and economic activity. It’s roughly twice what it was 30 years ago, even though California’s population has increased by about 50 percent.
The slowing of capacity-increasing construction and the steady growth of auto travel eventually resulted in California having the nation’s worst traffic congestion, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
The answer isn’t more taxes , it’s a combination of streamlining ( chopping )our massive – top heavy pulsating state government agencies that sit around dreaming up more ways to suck taxes out of us.
That, combined with forcing more car-pooling to reduce millions of commuters with no passengers and reduce pollution.
The legerslaters back in the 60 started to pork barrel the highway funds for there own districts and started with raising there fat wallets with raises , check and see what are tax raising legerslaters are bring down annually it’s disgusting the high salaries there making there laughing all the way to the bank
Despite virtually the highest fuel and vehicle taxes in the nation, California has some of the worst highway pavement conditions to be found anywhere. The Sunol Grade (I-680) and Altamont Pass (I-580) in the Bay area quickly come to mind, with potholes and irregular pavement surfaces for years that make driving a white-knuckle nightmare. Simply astonishing.
California deserves what it gets. Keep voting for the same type of people and enjoy what you reap. Brown, Boxer, and Ms. P and there you have it. Lousy roads are the least of your problems.
Gosh, I wonder what happened to California after the 1980s… Oh yes, Loma Prieta, Northridge and ENRON. We survived those; we can survive a few pot holes for now. We dug out of the hole from Arnold and have a balanced budget and a small surplus.