Stop Chicken Little: The Truth about Traffic Calming in Portland, Maine |
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Stevens Avenue Project: Fraud FEDERAL CONSIDERATIONSThe FBI in the Fall of 1998 found that the Stevens Project met their criteria for misuse of government funds and fraud. The Justice Dept. in Washington did a little research into the project, basically checking with CMAQ head Michael Savonis. He told them that he had declared the project an experiment after the fact ("everybody meant well" ---oh, brother...) and that he would not file a complaint. The FBI not having a complaint, declined to pursue this matter. If Savonis had filed a complaint, the FBI would have investigated the Portland City Council, DPW, PACTS, and Maine DOT for misuse of government funds and fraud, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Portland is required by the FHWA to maintain its National Highway System (NHS) routes “…with a functional classification as Principal Arterial”. Portland official’s tacit acceptance of requests for traffic calming, particularly speed tables, on major arterials in the city is disingenuous to all. They should not be lulling the public with promises of action where none would be allowed by federal regulation, and should not be lying to the government in trying to get arterials calmed. This was and is double-dealing at its finest. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has told Maine and Portland that traffic calming may be applied to the major arterials of the city that are in the National Highway System (NHS) only if those streets are withdrawn from the system. At that point Portland would lose any federal or state funding for future improvements on that street. If future road or infrastructure improvements are mandated by the state or federal government, the city will be required to pay for the entire cost of the project itself, such as the $37,000,000 cost of the Casco Bay bridge. No more federal gravy train for the city when they ignore the regulations. Of course the City got around the regs when they "kept" Stevens as a "minor" arterial, even though it has 5 times the level of traffic that denotes a minor arterial; it's really a major arterial. Through the years the city has consistently misrepresented the Stevens project, it's effects upon the accident rate, the environment, and general public safety. That's illegal. The Deering Oaks Project is another example of political influence run amok : Basically a land grab of the park by the Parkside Neighborhood Association, it would have created a traffic nightmare in the center of the city. It would have cost $37,000,000. To further those ends, a city-wide traffic study was done (Portland Peninsula Traffic Study), as one was needed anyway, and in particular to see what would happen if the Oaks Project was authorized.
In general the study was accurate when concerned with any other area of
the City other than the Oaks. The Oaks section was pure fiction.
During the Fall of 2010 I visited Professor
Mohammed Al-Taha, the Director of Graduate Studies in Mathematics and
Statistics at the University of Southern Maine. I asked him about
the veracity of slower traffic improving air quality, as the Oaks
proponents had asserted (this improvement would require the laws of
physics as they exist in the world today to change).
STATE CONSIDERATIONS The problem from the state's point of view is that the City of Portland is out of control. During my many years of talking to state officials, they have repeatedly stated and implied that Portland is a law unto itself, and as such will ignore any expertise if that information conflicts with the plan du jour. Portland is always ready with their hand out for state funding, but refuses to abide by the law, guidelines, and recommendations of the state.
Portland is in what is known as an Urban Compact Area, which most cities
over 50,000 are. Very simply, what that means is that the feds and state
can give Portland money, and Portland can do
anything it wants to
with that money with almost no oversight. It's like giving
a meth head a pound of crystal, and telling him : "Now make this last!"
Sure he will.....
I've heard "advisors" tell FHWA and MDOT officials : "If there are any
state or federal laws that prevent this project from going forward, then
those laws should be changed or ignored". |