Two current road improvement projects in the city (and featured on the same press release even) highlight the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly of public works projects.¹

First, the good.

The City will be reducing the number of lanes — from four to two (plus a median) — on a stretch of Sycamore Avenue east of Refugio Valley Road. They will achieve this by adding bike lanes and parking on both sides of the street.

The primary reason is the new library, which brings many pedestrians to the area, who cross a needlessly wide road. Wide roads only encourage people to drive faster if there is not enough traffic to require the additional lanes. (One point on the library: with its only entrance directed towards the parking lot, in the suburban style, and not towards the street, the library has effectively “killed” the corner; but what is done is done. It is a very nice library.)

This does make you wonder though why the road was widened to four lanes (plus a median) in the first place. One of Councilmember Ed Balico’s priorities in the 2000 and 2004 elections was “widening major streets.” Since he used the plural, I assume Balico meant Sycamore Avenue, and possibly John Muir Parkway (which was slated to be four lanes all the way to the Waterfront before the Szabo plan was stopped). In fact, in 2000 Balico outlined his vision to “extend and widen Sycamore Avenue from the Marina to Palm Avenue.”²

Widening roads does not reduce traffic by itself. A passive, more organic approach is necessary, and that means enhancing the pedestrian and transit modes of transportation, reducing the demand, not only increasing the supply.

The bad.

The recent Federal stimulus was kind of a letdown. Bad press certainly didn’t help, and I find myself more ashamed of the whole thing than anything else. It did create — or save — jobs, but it could have been better, game-changing.

Hercules received stimulus funds to improve San Pablo Avenue from John Muir Parkway to the Rodeo border, a stretch of road that arguably did not need any improvement. But in a take-it-or-lose-it system, there was no other option, and the City did the right thing. The project will create (or save) jobs.

Why stimulus funds for road projects are examples of good pork, and all other projects — be it transit, parks and recreation facilities, or vertical construction — is bad pork is perplexing to say the least. I would argue that all public works projects are pork. And with the press always willing to jump on the anti-pork bandwagon and, in my opinion, recklessly report it as such, it is further deleterious to public works projects as a whole. Jobs are jobs, and cities should be able to stimulate job creation as they see fit. Restricting the types of projects does not serve a better interest.

And the ugly.

Why is an automobile more important than a transit-rider,³ the pedestrian, schools, families enjoying a park, restored open spaces, transit-oriented development (which is the only viable long-term solution for reducing both traffic congestion and energy consumption)?

How many small projects could the $600k have helped complete around the city? How much more impact would those smaller improvements in aggregate have had on the community if not for the rather senseless bailout of drivers from Parker Avenue to John Muir Parkway, a stretch of road that was in good condition, certainly not in need of resurfacing?

The City of Hercules deserved stimulus. We have a variety of projects that are being funded with government dollars, and a stimulus could have pushed the City into overdrive, creating jobs, bettering the community. Restricting stimulus dollars to the tried-and-true roads and highways model is antiquated and damaging to solving concerns over smart growth in cities like ours.

The devil is always in the details.