My wife and I drove down to Boston today. Due to the pandemic it had been several years since we had made the trip. Everyone drives faster now. I was doing 70 and being passed continuously by other vehicles. More drivers were weaving in and out. The roads are much wider but the vehicles are much bigger. It also seems like many drivers have trouble staying in their lane. I’m not sure what that is about. I was often in between large pickup trucks and SUVs that seemed to dwarf my full-size car. Most of these huge vehicles only had one person inside them.

We never did build that train up to NH. Instead, they’re planning to widen the highway up through Concord. According to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research widening roads does not relieve traffic congestion it just creates more traffic. So after they get through widening the interstate through Concord we can expect more giant SUVs and pickup trucks racing along our highway causing more haze, pollution and dirty skies. Yet, somehow we’re all hoping and praying that we’re going to be able to mitigate climate change. I don’t believe we will. We’re too far down this transportation path to be able to stop ourselves. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to keep searching for my full-size automobile when I come out of the grocery store as it seems to always become invisible in the parking lot sandwiched between two mega-pickup trucks.

Wayne Fuller

Concord

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