Arnold wins!

[A Black Falcon]

I-95 in Maine is fine except for about ten days in midsummer... and it was pretty much the same before they widened it to Portland...

Alright, professor. What alternatives to widening an existing road would help a clogging traffic situation?

This ought to be good.

(Also, for the record, bypass surgeries often times are done before it becomes an immediate risk to a person's life. Thus, it makes a great comparison, especially when you're basically saying we shouldn't fix it because it will break again anyway.)

What alternatives are there to widening? Well... I don't know. We can't do much with this nation's car culture. Still... widening is a quick-fix solution that will not lead to any long-term help. It will lessen traffic for a while, sure, but like coronary bypass surgery if the person doesn't change they'll be back! That road will just clog again because there is now more space for people to clog... our habits haven't changed so people will just clog three lanes instead of four or four instead of five. Sure, it'll help for few years... but then the highway people will be back, saying they need more lanes. Its a viscious cycle...

But what can be done? I really don't know. Not with our nation's culture the way it is... well there are SOME things. For one big cities should all build effective public transportation systems, including subways. Most of the new cities don't have public transporation and people drive everywhere... we will get nowhere until that can be cut into like it is to some extent in some parts of the country. I don't think we can suddenly make people not drive or take the bus places or something... that is unrealistic. But there are things we can do that would help...