When I lived in Florida, the nicest of all nice roads was the Turnpike. It shot you from one end of the state to the other (longwise) in style. There were even rest stops in the center that had the obligatory bathrooms, but also a convenience store, gas, restaurants and even a sunglass hut. Each one was slightly different, so if you didn’t want crepes at one particular stop, head on down the road and there would be a Checkers, which served delicious burgers.
This wasn’t a free trip. To use the Turnpike, you had to shell out some dough. Pretty good dough. A trip from Fort Pierce to the turn off to Key West was about $21, one way. Now, my friends here in Seattle may look aghast, as they are griping about having to pay measly little tolls on 520 or the Narrows. But it’s a way of life in some parts of our fair land.
It’s not that you have to take the Turnpike. You can always drive on the older highways and get to the same place. But if you want the luxury route, get ready to shell out a little dough.
Coming back to Seattle, I guess I’m just used to the idea. But I see in a study released today thatpeople here can’t seem to grasp the idea that to have nice roads you have to pay for them. As you know, the state doesn’t have money to fix all the roads that need to be fixed, let alone add a second Narrows bridge, replace 520 or the Viaduct.
I mention this because the official ceremonial turn of the first shovel of dirt happened down at the Viaduct a weeks or so ago. The Governor got the honors, as the hole that will hold the giant boring machine tasked with drilling the new tunnel, was begun. For you trivia buffs, it will be the largest bored tunnel hole in the world, something like 58 feet in diameter.
But back to tolls. It seems the detractors, including Mayor McSchwinn, don’t want the new tunnel. They don’t really have a better alternative, mind you, and as we all know, part of the Viaduct has already been disassembled. Something has to give here and it looks like the tunnel wins.
As you can imagine, drilling a big hole through the ground isn’t an inexpensive undertaking. In the old Interstate highway days, the feds would kick in all of the dough. But they don’t have any money either, as we all know. Well, they do, but they have to continually print new bills as there’s nothing really to back it up, except debt.
Someone has to foot the bill. And lo and behold, it will be the people who use the road. Yes, the tunnel is going to join the ranks of state toll roads and boy, are people griping.
Again, I just don’t get it. I am going to end up paying for it anyway, either at the pump in the form of increased state taxes on gas, which I think we all agree, is high enough, or through higher taxes on anything else legislators can think of to pay the bill.
It’s so much easier to get tagged per use. And it’s also more fair. As I said, in Florida you don’t have to use the Turnpike. You can use other roads, including I-95 which parallels much of it.
The same is true in Seattle. If you don’t want to use the tunnel, you can use the surface streets. And for some reason, some 9,000 drivers said they would rather slog their way through the already jammed Seattle streets rather than shell out the money to whisk quickly through downtown in the new tunnel.
Me? I’ll take the tunnel. I will be glad to shell out $5 to take the fast track through town. It saves me time and a headache. That to me is worth the price.
For those that want to go on the cheap, more power to you. I applaud your right to have a choice and you can crawl up 4th Avenue to Denny and rejoin 99 there. I will be glad to be waiting for you on the other end, checking my watch continually as I know you’re going to be late, possibly very late.
I would be among you, if it weren’t for those handy transponders they have created. I fell in love with these in Florida. I still have mine in my car. Connect it to your bank account and just sail on down the road, never having to stop and go in the cash lines on the side of the road. What a great invention. They are even better here since they are little things. My Florida one is about the size of a wallet and the battery has the shortest half life, largely because it is always sitting in the hot sun on the dash.
Too bad it doesn’t work here. Eventually I will need to get a new transponder so that I can continue to enjoy better roads here. I like the idea, mostly because I had to get used to it in Florida where it is a way of life. No one thinks twice about it.
Eventually I suppose this will come to pass here as well. At least I hope so. In the meantime, my friends will continue to want to ride along with me, largely because I am a toll road fiend, looking for the fastest, most luxurious path from Point A to Point B.
In the Emerald City, taking a pass on the bus today,
– Robb