Although largely forgotten in the wake of the upcoming presidential election, Maricopa County will have its own election in November. And judging by the inordinate amount of "Stop the Light Rail in its Tracks" posters along the road, Proposition 400 is likely to be one of the most controversial items on the ballot.
It proposes a new half-cent transportation tax to replace the current half-cent tax set to expire in 2006. The original tax was designed to raise revenues for transportation needs in Maricopa County -- 98 percent going to freeways.
However, the new tax won't allocate the same percentage of funds toward the freeways in Maricopa County. This has upset quite a few people, and the object of their scorn is the new light rail system that is going to run from Tempe to Phoenix.
Many fear that this project will take away funding from the freeway system and divert it to the rail.
There is also fear that the light rail will add to traffic congestion, as it is projected to take up three lanes of traffic, block intersections along its route and cost the taxpayers more in the future if it sustains operational losses.
While the opposition does have some valid points, the light rail is only going to use 15 percent of tax revenues available to freeway projects. Despite the fact that it could create more traffic delays by blocking intersections, it would be unwise to vote against the proposition.
Light rail has already been approved for the first of four phases of construction. The portion to be built runs approximately from Loop 101 to Interstate 17.
This means that even if we were to vote against Proposition 400, the light rail is still going to be built. What we would essentially have is a fully operational light rail and no funds to operate it. The light rail track will invariably take up those three lanes, but all the people who may have ridden it will be in cars next to us, making the traffic even worse.
Not only that, but money will continue to be invested in enlarging our freeway system. In fact, 55 percent of tax revenues will be used to further expand and maintain them. For example: Loop 303 (a 38-mile stretch that will run westward from the I-17 at Lone Mountain Road, and connect with I-10 after running north through Peoria and Sunrise) is still bound for construction along with the light rail. There will also be new lanes added to the Loop 101, the Arizona 85 and the I-10.
If we don't vote for this tax extension, it will likely put our freeway maintenance and expansion plans to a halt.
Our legislature doesn't have the ability to plan transportation for the region, so a new Metropolitan Planning Organization would have to be formed when the tax expires.
This would require the governor and local units of government -- representing 75 percent of the population that the current MPO represents -- to disband it and designate a new one. This would take a great deal of time, and would likely not happen soon enough to create a new plan and put it to vote before the expiration of the current tax.
Voting no on Proposition 400 will accomplish nothing. The light rail will be built regardless, and the only thing that will suffer is our freeway system. And crumbling pavement and highway overpasses would do far more to hinder traffic than a single line of track.
Julie Messner is journalism senior. Reach her at julie.messner@asu.edu.
