On cue, fresh Census Bureau data indicating that as Charlotte added miles and miles of new highway traffic lanes in recent years — you may have heard of I-485 — traffic did not get worse. From 2000 to 2005 the average Charlotte commute length stayed right at 24 minutes. OK, creeped up by 24 seconds.
In other words, as road capacity tried to keep pace with traffic volumes, peak-time congestion did not get worse.
This is exactly the opposite of what the Uptown mass transit and Smart Growth boosters said would happen. According to them, there is absolutely no way to keep pace with traffic growth so our only hope is reducing that traffic by shifting — forcing, really — people away from cars and onto buses, trains, bikes, and walking. And because we must do this, we must radically change development patterns to a denser, more compact form to support the buses, trains, bikes, and walking.
As noted below, the myth that Charlotte tried road building and it did not work has done — and continues to do — great harm to this city.
The Census data once again confirms that adding road capacity pays big dividends in quality of life and provides crucial infrastructure for continue economic vitality. The bad news is that due to government incompetence at the state and local level, local road building is once again falling far behind the break-even pace. Common sense things like widening Highway 16, or even making the Southern leg of the 485 the six-lanes it should have been from the outset, will soon — really soon — squeeze traffic to a stop.
The Smart Growthers will then proclaim, “See! We told you you couldn’t pave your way to freedom! Come ride the train and live in a high-rise!”
But by then everyone will be living in Anson County.
