Posted on 11/05/2019 8:18:38 AM PST by george76
Taxpayer watchdog group: Emails show sales tax revenue going toward projects that are ‘not what most voters have in mind’..[ full title]
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A Colorado Springs tax watchdog group obtained communications between city employees that show discussion of using sales tax revenue for traffic reduction and bike lane infrastructure while other city officials have denied that’s where funds would be directed.
City voters approved a road improvement ballot measure called 2C in 2015, which is up for renewal in the Nov. 5 election. 2C is a 0.62 percent sales tax increase that is supposed to be dedicated to road maintenance and improvements. SpringsTaxpayers.com obtained communications in a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request that show city officials discussing using 2C funds for “road dieting” in 2020. Other communications indicate that the Colorado Springs Traffic Planning Department plan use funding for “transportation capacity reduction,” in correspondences with the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA), which manages transportation in the region.
Road dieting is the practice of reducing lanes in an attempt to reduce traffic and dissuade people from driving in favor of other commuting methods like biking and public transportation.
“The City administration has previously communicated to the public that 2C money is not going to fund bike lane infrastructure via road-dieting,” Laura Carno of SpringsTaxpayers.com said in a statement. “We have found through CORA requests that City officials are referring to some bike lane projects as being a part of the 2C project list.”
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53 percent of revenue from 2C went to paving roads, while 47 percent went to “other improvements.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thecentersquare.com ...
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
When I lived in OR, I got a chance to listen to one of the GOP leaders there in a closed meeting.
He said:
“One of the secrets to politics is the most powerful people out there is the City Planners.”
“They decide where the $$$ goes, who gets the payoffs and who gets punished for not towing the line”
100% of taxes shoule be used for free I-Phones for crack whores squirting out babies
Bicycles ... every liberal’s wettest dream. In my small city they’ve put bike lanes everywhere, but nobody ever uses them. A complete waste of money and road space.
Even real bikers who like to go fast : refuse to ride on paved bike trails = loose grave, too many dogs, etc.
Bicycle lanes are a congestion fee. Clog the roads.
The illegal aliens out here drive like idiots and will run you over if you’re on a bike.
Leftist push their scams ( for the children, etc. )..
Coloradans resoundingly voted “no” last November on a proposed 2,500-foot setback of any new oil and gas drilling ... Proposition 112 would have wiped a critical industry off the Colorado map, eradicating an estimated 147,800 jobs .
Undeterred by that pesky “will of the people,” leftist majorities in the state legislature introduced and rammed SB19-181 through in little more than a month.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3791409/posts
I live just off a street that has two lanes going in each direction. As it is, that fits nicely. At the corners they spread out a bit for a nice left turn lane.
During rush hours, we need those lanes to move traffic.
About twenty years ago the city decided to resurface the street. It needed it bad.
At the bottom of my hill, where it intersects with this street, they had already started striping the newly resurfaced street.
I hot footed it down to city hall and stood before the city council. I explained the need for two lanes in each direction, citing how the street gets backed up even with two lanes in each direction.
Luckily one of the city council members lived just off this street herself. She agreed that one lane in each direction would be a disaster.
The newly painted bike lane and stripes intended to limit the street to just two lanes, one in each direction, were promptly sand blasted off the street, and two lanes going in each direction remained, with no bike path.
I ride a bike and do enjoy bike lanes. Saying that, I only expect them where it makes sense. If there is adequate room for vehicles and bike lanes, I’m for it.
I am not for choking traffic to urge folks to use bikes. That’s nonsense.
One of my pet peeves is living in a town it should take about five minutes to drive across, and it taking 20-25 minutes to accomplish it.
City planners have their heads firmly implanted all too often.
The precise opposite of serving the public -- which is what "public servants" are supposed to be doing.
Lying liars lie.
Shocking/s. The marxists are all for bike paths over road improvements.
No tax money is ever used for things the public needs anymore. If you want that, it’s a toll.
Trains to no where, too.
RTD said they are short 61 light rail operators out of the 216 authorized positions... 25 operators have left since June.. RTD forced to cancel routes when 2 people call out..
Nearly 30% of the light rail operator positions at RTD ( Reason to Drive ) are open.
and bus drivers
I see the trains coming in and departing from the Taj Mahal in Golden once in awhile. Sometimes I can count 10 riders, but they have obscured the windows on many of the trains.
A foreign operation wants to run Colorado’s E-470 — and collect billions in tolls from drivers... ROADIS, a multinational toll road operator owned by a Canadian pension fund, wants to take charge of the highway that runs through Thornton, Brighton, Commerce City, Aurora and Parker —
-2- Pritzker may sell buildings, tollway for Union pension money.
Kickbacks all around.
There is a ballot measure on today's ballot claiming to raise money for roads and schools. I have no doubt it is yet another bait and switch. People want roads and roads in good repair, but as soon as the politicians get their hands on the money, they spend it on their pet projects.
Light rail has never made it's projections. They are cannibalizing RTD bus service to pay for a rail system few people use. And they want to build more. Like Jon Caldera said when light rail was on the ballot, it would have been cheaper to buy every projected light rail rider a car.
CC is a blank check to the legislature. They lie, cheat, and steal.
Polis appointed 35-year-old Shoshana Lew as his new CDOT Executive Director, a history major with no background in engineering nor construction management..
She likes bike lanes, big buses, walking paths, light rail, and electric cars.
Are our darn roads even on her list?
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