All I can say is this new light rail better be worth it. It better work flawlessly, efficiently, and turn out to be one of the best things to ever happen at ASU, because at this price, I wouldn't expect anything less.
No, I'm not talking about the cold, hard cash it took to fund this modern marvel. I'm talking about my 40-minute commute time that used to only be 20.
That may not seem like a big deal at first glance, but do the math. School starts August 21 and ends May 9. Subtract weekends, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving weekend, winter break and spring break and you get 147 days out of the year that ASU is in session.
Multiply that by 20 and you get 2,940 minutes or 49 hours of life lost a year in commute thanks to construction.
Not to mention I just love running over steel plates every five feet, sending my car rocking back and forth and undoubtedly ruining its suspension. I'm surprised it doesn't sit like a lopsided low-rider yet.
Now I don't mind parking a little farther away and walking through the large holes, dirt mounds and the mess of chiseled pavement that is University Drive. Unless of course, it's over 100 degrees outside, and lucky for us, it is for the better part of the first semester.
So by the time you get to class, you look like you've been working out for about four hours, and now that you're late the only seats available are right up front.
But that's not enough. They had to go and tear up the Memorial Union (see story page 1), which won't be back in one piece until September.
They also ripped apart all of the landscaping along University Drive and had to close several malls to do so. Welcome to ASU. You can't drive here, you can't walk here, but hey, in 2012 we're going to have an awesome campus.
Construction has become ASU's middle name. Not that there is anything wrong with the growth of an emerging institution that can boast the largest student population in the nation.
But did it all have to come at once? Why not spread out some of these projects and ease the ridiculous burden of travel? Put the piping in, then build the light rail, then construct new dorms, then tear up the lawn.
If I wanted to go off-roading, I'd buy a dune buggy and head up to northern Arizona.