New at Reason

Julian Sanchez | April 7, 2005

Many of us would like Congress to hit the road. But Gabriel Roth notes that even that turns out badly.

Comments

|4.7.05 @ 1:46PM|#

But. . . but. . . how could Mass' residents possibly fund something like The Big Dig without a big, fat, porkpie sandwich from the Feds?

After all, the Big Dig wouldn't have been necessary if the Feds didn't screw up by slicing that highway through central Boston in the first place. Seems like the highway planners never really caught on to the meaning of the prefix "Inter", did they?

In choosing to go through the city, instead of limiting the highway to strictly "between state" functions, they attempted to solve Boston's own gridlock problems. As usual (gasp!) unintended consequences followed.

|4.7.05 @ 1:56PM|#

Ironchef

Originally the Interstate highways were not supposed to go through cities. Predictably, though, when local pols, engineers and contractors got a whiff of the pork that changed quickly.

|4.7.05 @ 2:19PM|#

True, true, of course.

Any 3-digit "Inter"state highway: Beltways; connectors; divided highways into cities, are strictly city/state problems, and have no business being handled by Washington. Cases where Beltways cross multiple states (495 in DC for example) can easily be handled by a consortium of the states involved.

The last true "Inter" state highway was completed decades ago, and there is absolutely no present need for more highways between the states.

|4.7.05 @ 4:12PM|#

I always wondered how come Boston gets a Big Dig but none of the other hundreds of downtowns that were cut apart in the same manner get one.

|4.7.05 @ 4:35PM|#

I always wondered how come Boston gets a Big Dig but none of the other hundreds of downtowns that were cut apart in the same manner get one.

Cause Jersey got the toxic waste dumps?

Oh wait that's a different joke.

|4.7.05 @ 5:14PM|#

Well at least my state (AZ) is thinking about kicking the feds to the curb as far as the highway bullshit goes. I remember years ago when the feds threatened to withhold money from AZ if AZ wouldn't adopt the lower speed limits. Funny how the speed limits have gone back up now. And I think even before that (before I lived here) the feds were gonna withhold money from AZ if they didn't change their drinking age to 21.

At least AZ finally changed their archaic liquor laws so that you can now be served until 2am. That actually has reduced drinking and driving, in my experience, because people don't try to slam 3 beers and a shot at 12:45. Unfortunately you can't buy any alcohol here until after 10am on Sundays. Sucks when you're pulling an all-night binger. :)

|4.7.05 @ 5:37PM|#

"has now become a mechanism for the exercise of federal power and for distributing special favors to interest groups and the home districts of members of Congress."

And, in one of those WTF-how-are-those-things-related moments, to bludgeon the states into raising their drinking ages to 21.

"The last true "Inter" state highway was completed decades ago, and there is absolutely no present need for more highways between the states."

That's not going to stop them from wasting money on I-69. Here in Memphis various localities are fighting to get the money and jobs from it, resulting in a hilarious fight over who gets to destroy their neighborhoods.

|4.7.05 @ 5:38PM|#

That should be, "their own neighborhoods"