LITTLE ROCK — There is mounting evidence from around the country that the extra revenue generated from road improvements rarely covers the cost of maintaining and repairing those roads. The outdated logic that roads equal jobs-and bigger roads equal more jobs-just doesn’t hold up under scrutiny anymore (see Pine Bluff, for example).
I completely support the Highway Commission’s and Chamber of Commerce’s desire to improve people’s lives across the state in these hard economic times, but throwing ever increasing amounts of our money at an old-fashioned idea just because it’s familiar does not make it a good idea.
Instead of spending nearly $2 billion to widen a bunch of rural roads to four lanes under the false hope that doing so will somehow lead to prosperity, we need to invest in infrastructure that will build resiliency and freedom of choice into our transportation network and economy. We need infrastructure that does not burden us with crushing costs long after we cut the ribbons and take the pictures for the paper.
Our singular focus over the past few decades on building roads and our willingness to dump the long term costs of sprawl onto the taxpayers at large have led to a system in which the vast majority of Arkansans do not have a meaningful choice when we walk outside in the morning.
For most of us, the only realistic option we have is to get in our cars and drive when we want to shop, go to work, go to school, or go to church. With the costs of car-ownership going up for individuals and the costs to our cities and towns going up while revenue-generating land uses are sacrificed to provide more and more parking, the need to invest in other options grows stronger every day. Instead though, our leaders just want to double-down in the face of uncertainty.
So what can we do instead?
First, we need to make towns and cities of all sizes across Arkansas more pedestrian- and bike-friendly. Places that recognize bicycles as an integral part of the transportation system and invest accordingly regularly see people freely choosing to make upwards of 40 percent of local trips by bike. It’s cheaper, healthier, safer,and a heck of a lot more fun than sitting in traffic.
Second, we need to get honest about the long-term costs and benefits of sprawling development. In general, revenue generated by cul-de-sac-y little clusters of custom homes on a former pasture does not cover the long-term costs of maintaining the infrastructure required to support those homes.
At some point roads have to repaved, stoplights installed, schools constructed, water lines replaced and sewer systems upgraded. Before allowing a developer to make off with the short term gains, we should figure out what the long-term costs of his business activity truly are and make him pay for them upfront instead of taxing everyone else to subsidize it later. Once the prices of those houses reflect their true cost, I think we’ll see a lot fewer people choosing to live in them and instead choosing more livable, walkable and economically sustainable places to call home.
Third, when our towns are more bike-friendly and we stop subsidizing sprawl, then public transit linking towns and cities will begin to make economic sense again. Connecting most parts of the state with high-quality bus service (and eventually trains for some areas) will require much less subsidy than continuing with today’s status quo of simply building more roads.
Do I expect all Arkansans to sell their cars and ride a bike or a bus everywhere in peace, love and harmony? Of course not. Private automobiles are here to stay and will undoubtedly play a vital role in our state’s transportation system for the foreseeable future. That does not mean we need to spend billions of dollars on new four-lane roads, though.
If we really want to build a stronger, more resilient economy, then we should focus on creating more choice for Arkansas’ citizens. Making our cities and towns more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, stopping our sprawl subsidy, and investing in high-quality public transit will create more jobs, keep more dollars bouncing around in the local economy, and strengthen our communities. Then, homegrown businesses will be much more likely to thrive and the businesses we recruit from elsewhere will be more likely to stay for longer than just a few years.
Vote no in November for the half cent sales tax that will only build roads we don’t need and can’t afford. It is time to look forward instead of getting stuck in the past.
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Tim McKuin lives in the Central High neighborhood of Little Rock and is a student at UALR’s Bowen School of Law.
Editorial, Pages 15 on 01/05/2012