The planned Spaghetti Junction expansion. Note how it surrounds the baseball stadium on the right and overshadows waterfront park on the bottom. Would Ike Like?

"Stuck in traffic in Washington, D.C. in 1959, President Eisenhower was shocked to learn that the delay was being caused by Interstate Highway construction. Surely the Interstates were being built between cities, not in them. The President demanded to know who was responsible for this state of affairs, only to be told he was; it was the result of legislation he had signed three years earlier. Aghast, Eisenhower attempted to get the federal government out of the urban freeway business. But it was too late: the program had built up momentum that not even he could halt.

Fifty years later, many planners and urbanists are still asking Eisenhower's question: Why did the United States, unlike every other developed country, choose to mass-produce freeways in cities?"

From: Paved With Good Intentions. 

Yonah Freemark writes:

"It’s nothing less than a roaring comeback for public transportation in St. Louis: After a narrow loss at the polls for a proposed tax increase for transit in 2008, voters came out massively yesterday for similar measure, with 63% in favor. This approval will increase sales taxes by half a cent in St. Louis County, increasing contributions to the Metro transit agency by an estimated $75 million a year."

"St. Louis’ passage of a sales tax increase in the midst of a serious economic downturn serves as a powerful rebuke to anti-tax zealotry such as is promoted by conservative organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the Tea Party. More than that, though, it demonstrates that a well-run campaign premised on the promise of palpable improvements in a public service can succeed, even in a difficult environment."

The media blacked out last Sunday NPP Citizen Bridges meeting, but LEO refused to play along. You can read Meador's summary of the meeting here, with his signature editorializing as well.

Thursday is the big ORBP meeting, your last, best hope to be heard as a citizen on this topic. Come get in your 2c:

Public Meetings are scheduled to discuss the proposal. See this article on the KIPDA blog for details.

Saturday, April 3rd - 11 A.M.
Meet at St Marks - 2822 Frankfort Ave.
All are welcome! Kids especially!

Print and Post these Posters Pretty Please!

Bicycle people from all across the region are coming to Louisville: http://bikebikesoutheast.wordpress.com/about/

CTA now requires all their operators to watch this video twice a year. Awwww, that's just mean, CTA!!

But, seriously, there is some interesting stuff in this. The fact that half of it targets bus operators, and half of it targets cyclists actually works in its favor - you get to see the other user's point of view. 

Share the Road - Buses and Bicycles from Chicago Bicycle Program on Vimeo.