Not just another road study? Prove it
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
By Chris Fitzsimon
Bruce Siceloff, Staff Writer Maybe they really mean it this time.
Gov. Mike Easley and the leaders of the state House and Senate assembled a "blue-ribbon" panel Monday and asked its 24 members to diagnose the state’s transportation problems and figure out how to pay for the solutions.
The 21st Century Transportation Committee is expected to generate some ideas for the General Assembly next spring and to make a final report by the end of 2008. Brad Wilson of Raleigh, chief operating officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, will lead the group of political and business leaders.
Wilson’s committee will have to establish first that North Carolina’s ability to pay for roads, trains and buses really is lagging far behind its needs.
Easley squelched this premise last spring when he labeled "absurd" his own Department of Transportation’s predicted $65 billion shortfall over the next 25 years. Nothing happened to dispel the governor’s skepticism, and the legislature declined to approve new transportation money.
This isn’t the first time Easley and the legislature have thrown study groups at transportation problems.
In 2005, Easley and DOT created the group N.C. Thinking Ahead! with a similar "creative, innovative" charge. After a year of PowerPoint presentations, polls and public hearings, Thinking Ahead! dropped dead.
DOT stopped calling meetings. The group never even contributed to the proverbial dusty shelf of ignored committee reports.
About that time, the legislature tackled urban mobility problems with a blue-ribbon group that also toured the state and took itself seriously. There was a final report in this case, but no action. (more…)
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