Progress isn't what it appears to be

Yesterday, I got caught in a traffic jam I couldn't believe.

It was downtown at the evening rush hour.  It took me thirty minutes just to get across downtown Houston.  Unreal.

It has always been bad, but not this bad.  So, what was the problem?

Back in 2004, a new rail line was opened in the downtown area.  You would think that this would improve traffic flow, right?  Wrong.

Before anybody rolls there eyes and says this is just another right wing attack on government, just wait a minute.

The problem with this "progress" was that it was not well-conceived.  The problem with it is that it interferes with traffic.  There's no denying this.  The rail line is at ground level.  Traffic has to wait for it to pass.  The train itself has to travel slower because some traffic may get in its way.  It should have been grade separated, but it wasn't.  That's the problem.  Ground traffic interferes with itself and grinds all traffic to a halt.

That's what was delaying me yesterday.  Several light changes and no movement.  That didn't used to happen.  It was better before the "progress" of a new train facility being opened.

This criticism is from someone who supported the idea of commuter rail.  Now, it seems to me that it would be better if the thing was junked.

Another example?

Also, in the last decade, the Katy Freeway ( Interstate 10) was rebuilt.  New lanes were added.  A toll road was built down the middle with an HOV lane in each direction.  All this new concrete should have improved conditions, right?  Wrong.

 Again, I spent nearly an hour getting from downtown Houston back home last night.  Unreal.  This didn't happen before the "progress".

This bit of "progress" was the brainchild of a Republican Congressman.  My Congressman.  It is a bit of a flawed handiwork, in my opinion.

What's the problem with the Katy Freeway?  It's hard to say, but I think it is the toll road.  Motorists can decide to bypass the backup by using the thing for the price of a toll.  What I think is happening is that all this traffic is getting forwarded to a choke point up the road where it ends.  It stops everything behind it, you see.  Even the toll road gets backed up.  Flawed idea.

Sorry, but progress ain't always what it has been billed to be.