An appropriate analogy to widening the Fort Pitt Tunnels would be that of a grotesquely fat man whose big belly is straining against his belt. Instead of ceasing to eat, he just lets out his belt one more notch. But without the discomfort, there is no incentive to stop eating.
Accommodating increased traffic is an invitation to build suburbs that need cars to function. Instead, sparse suburban development must stop and be replaced with dense urban development with closely spaced buildings for living, working, shopping and entertainment.
In densely developed areas, people can get around on foot, bike or mass transit. Such dense development would predominate if it were not for government subsidies such as public road-building and payment-leveled utilities and government services.
There are 60 houses on my street in the city vs. six homes in the same space on my parents' street in the suburbs. Why do we pay the same rates for electricity, gas, sewage, water and mail delivery when it certainly costs more for services with fewer customers over the same distance?
And yet, look at the new Pittsburgh Technology Center. It is typical suburban development with buildings surrounded by parking lots. We're turning the city suburban, forcing people to rely on cars and then complaining about the traffic. And yet, all the environmentalists do is to oppose new highways and road-expansion projects.
It's a little late to complain about the push for increasing road capacity after watching silently while the car population has mushroomed commensurately with continuing sparse suburban development, spreading into the forests and farmlands.
