Gainesville Sun
August. 1999
...It's like two kids squabbling over the same sand castle
I spent a solid hour dropping kids off at schools the first day of school, and witnessed backups as far as I could see in all directions. My neighbors, who live within 2 miles of Chiles Elementary, drove 8 miles to school because new roads are blocked off. Even pedestrians couldn't make it through the maze of bulldozers and uprooted trees in the path. Everybody seemed to be on Tower Road at the same time. Surprisingly, few if any, traffic complaints were lodged this first week of school.
However, long waits, frustrations, and road rage will get worse as housing and business density increases along Tower Road. Tower is going to be packed if it remains 2 lanes wide. The constant traffic flow frustrates those exiting their subdivisions or schools. We can deal with this. I saw signs in California that read, "all vehicles must alternate with entering/merging traffic."
All traffic entering from the
various subdivisions will have to turn right, and make U-turns
at the next roundabout to go the other way. We can handle this.
We've already made up our own rules around the Oak Hall School
entrance. Without these unwritten rules, Northbound traffic would
back up for miles.
Four-laning Tower will certainly move more auto traffic at faster
rates. With 5 schools, churches, park, library, daycare, and other
businesses, I'm concerned for the safety of the children and other
pedestrians. Traffic guards don't work full time.
The truth is that the size of Tower Road is not the issue. The
underlying, very real problem is not Tower Road, but how we as
a county manage change. We allow new homes and businesses without
consideration, plans, or funding for infrastructure needed for
new growth.
In theory, we the citizens already told the county how we want to grow. We speak at meetings and write articles. We talk to elected officials at all levels. We form organizations such as the South West Area Planning group (SWAP), Sustainable Alachua County (SAC), and many more. We've been involved for years in the Comprehensive Plan, which sets out ideals as to how we want to grow.
The Alachua County Comprehensive plan isn't worth the time and paper it consumes. It is too lax in many areas, and lacks detail in others. The county commission routinely trashes it. Attorneys like it because it generates fees when developers need a change. Alachua County Commissioners do not allocate dollars to improvements called for in the comprehensive plan-we change the plan instead.
So, what can we as citizens do to control growth in our own areas of the county? We restrict road sizes. If Tower Road remains 2 lanes wide, we force creativity and smarter ways to deal with high levels of congestion. When roads reach capacity, state law stops new growth unless certain alternatives are met. Developers issue bus passes to residents, alternative travel routes open up, and we get turn lanes and other traffic-enhancing improvements.
We ignore all these alternative methods of dealing with congestion when we build super-roads-until capacity is once again reached. Citizens loose control over how their area grows. So we take control by forcing smaller road sizes. The county commission can no longer approve multiple over-sized drug stores without addressing road capacity. It's like two kids squabbling over the same sand castle. Nobody's really got control.
(Gainesville plans to exempt 90% of their roads from concurrency requirements. Although this is good in many ways, we'll lose developer financial support. Who's going to pay for the additional traffic on 39th avenue when Spring Hills gets off the ground? What's going to force creative and smarter travel modes? )
Our County Commissioners show a lack of respect, and foresight, and routinely neglect new-growth areas of Alachua County. If new homes and businesses are desirable or inevitable, then we need to build the roads, schools, parks and other infrastructure that are essential to the quality of life. If we don't have the infrastructure, let's not fool new residents by continuing to build like we've got it all. We don't. We don't have the money.
We need to fund changes sensibly. Impact fees place the burden on only new growth-we wouldn't need new roads, parks, and schools if our population remains where it was 20 years ago. Gas taxes tax those that drive further to work, school, and shopping, and hopefully encourages more to use the bus system. Maybe we'll choose to live closer to our jobs, thereby decreasing road usage and expansion. Sales taxes place the burden on all of us that live, work or visit here. Some combination must be fair. We're paying for all our growth out of our regular taxes right now, stretching our dollars much further than we can stand.
Consider that each new home we build costs at least $22,000 in new infrastructure needs. Right now, each of us pays this $22,000 out of our own taxes. Instead, let's give each new resident two years free housing if they promise to rent or buy a "used" home instead of a new one. I would be kidding, but it's cheaper for the rest of us that already live here!
We need to respect and use tools such as the comprehensive plan. It's a game to find cheap ways around the system instead of following the intent of the citizens that created the vision. We must remove the scores of "easy fixes" built into the plan-ways to get around or buy out of concurrency requirements. It's a great tool, but only if we use it.
The debate will continue as to what to do with Tower and other roads. Debate is healthy. I think it should remain 2 lanes wide. But we missed the point. Sooner or later, we'll get down to real issues of how to grow, and start working on real solutions.
Summer's over, and the laundry waits So I write instead.