Are we on the right track?

While sitting stuck fast in traffic on I-405, it’s easy to sympathize with Connie Lewis’ frustration with the transportation mess that is today’s Puget Sound traffic (“Sound Transit audits: Time to build system,” Letters, Sept. 18). However, anyone who has been paying taxes for more than a few minutes should take a cleansing breath before pushing blindly on with Sound Transit’s plan.

Ms. Lewis’ letter drips with the often-used do-something-do-anything provocation so often used to stampede an overwrought public into doing something precipitous. Sound Transit wants you to spend billions over decades to obtain something whimsically termed “choice.” Perhaps we’ll feel better knowing we’re spending all that money to achieve choice. Feelings aside, lurching forward without a results-based plan may well leave us still collectively stuck in traffic, poorer and more frustrated. Exhibit A: Los Angeles.

Choice might, after careful analysis, prove to be part solution. I can’t tell. Apparently, neither can anyone at Sound Transit. We might end up with a choice of various transportation means, all similarly gridlocked. That’s not a choice I want to pay for. What’s needed is a pay-as-you-go, phased transportation plan with measurable benefit – improved traffic flow – at each and every phase. Since we taxpayers are paying the freight (no pun intended), we can and must insist on getting real results for our time and money. That’s not too much to ask. We do so in our financial lives every day.

Let’s not be panicked into billions of dollars and decades of time to achieve – nothing. No good tries are acceptable. No “at least we’re doing something” nonesense. No moral victories. The stakes are too high. Let’s not find ourselves looking back in 2010 or 2015 wondering what we were thinking in 2000. No one will remember today’s cliches then.

Edmonds

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

People walk adjacent to the border with Canada at the Peace Arch in Peace Arch Historical State Park, where cars behind wait to enter Canada at the border crossing Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, in Blaine, Wash. Canada lifted its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but America kept similar restrictions in place, part of a bumpy return to normalcy from coronavirus travel bans. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Editorial: U.S. and Canada better neighbors than housemates

President Trump may be serious about annexing Canada, but it’s a deal fraught with complexities for all.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Thursday, Feb. 13

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

State single-payer health care bill offers many advantages

I was excited to read in Will Geschke’s report (“Everett lawmakers back… Continue reading

Important national story missing from Herald

I couldn’t find a report in The Herald that the Trump administration… Continue reading

Comment: Trump’s ‘Man-of-Steel’ shtick will make U.S. weaker

Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum will harm allies we need and won’t help industries here.

Comment: AG Bondi’s DEI memo more messaging than lawsuit threat

Talk of criminal investigations is intended to panic corporations into abandoning their DEI programs.

Goldberg: Why Musk, Vance went to bat for self-desribed racist

While a former Trump official is on the outs for doing his job, a proud racist gets his job back.

CNA Nina Prigodich, right, goes through restorative exercises with long term care patient Betty Long, 86, at Nightingale's View Ridge Care Center on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Boost state Medicaid funding for long-term care

With more in need of skilled nursing and assisted-living services, funding must keep up to retain staff.

bar graph, pie chart and diagrams isolated on white, 3d illustration
Editorial: Don’t let state’s budget numbers intimidate you

With budget discussions starting soon, a new website explains the basics of state’s budget crisis.

Curtains act as doors for a handful of classrooms at Glenwood Elementary on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Schools’ building needs point to election reform

Construction funding requests in Arlington and Lake Stevens show need for a change to bond elections.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, Feb. 12

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Welch: State Democrats’ bill would undermine parental rights

The bill would allow kids as young as 13 to make mental health decisions without notice to parents.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.