by Ron Beitler
Now the danger here is I know very little details about this project aside from what I read in this article this AM. So if I’m missing something here please fill me in.
Summary:
Pennsylvania is committing $5 million to help ease traffic into Pocono Raceway.
The announcement came during a Pennsylvania Capitol ceremony celebrating Pocono Raceway’s estimated $257.5 million contribution to the region’s economy in 2013.
- Express times
Yesterday’s post about a recent Taxpayers for Common Sense and Smart Growth American study highlighted an alarming deficiency between money spent on road expansion projects and money spent on maintaining the existing road network. This fundamental problem is one of the reasons we just faced a gas tax. (now the 5th highest in the nation)
In my opinion above is exhibit ‘A’. How can this not be classified as a transportation pork barrel project? What am I missing?
It’s 5 million dollars spent on hyperlocal capacity improvements to benefit one racetrack seasonally. This road widening serves literally no other purpose that I can gather from a quick google map recon and a little familiarity with the area.
When we talk about Pennsylvania spending a disproportionate amount on road expansion (providing marginal benefits) compared to maintaining the roads and bridges we currently have in place, unless I’m missing something this really should be viewed as the poster child for the problem. Why on earth is a Republican Governor supporting this? (could have something to do with an election coming up..)
5 Million dollars for road widening project to service exclusively Pocono raceway.