Neigborhood schools - its about time...

It's about time we started the process to let children attend school in or near they own neighborhoods. Many years ago there was a need to start busing to help bring good quality education to all children. But much of the problem has been reduced by changes in neighborhood mix and generally improving the effort to provide a good education to all students so the idea of busing children long distances purely to mix the classes and provide better classes for poor or less fortunate students is not the crisis it used to be.

School budgets now include a huge line item just for fuel and transportation expenses that could be substantially reduced by allowing students to attend a school right in their own neighborhood or within a few miles. Many students are forced to get up before daylight just because they are required to ride the bus from their home to a distant school and get home near or after dark much of the year. This is now an outdated forced requirement and could be reduced considerably or eliminated.

If this problem were acknowledged and addressed by our school board members a large part of the transportation budget could be used toward the urgent need to remodel old schools and provide new schools to handle the huge growth in the number of students expected over the next several years. This in turn could help reduce the pressure to issue bonds to fund construction or allow that money to be spread over a longer period of time. If they refuse to address the problem let's vote them out and get new members.

In a December 23rd article in the News and Observer T. Keung Hui (Staff Writer for the paper )said "Frustrated over student reassignments, Garner town leaders have asked their attorney whether they can sue the county school board to keep more Garner children closer to home. "If this lawsuit moves ahead, it's about neighborhood schools," said Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams. "It's about Garner students going to neighborhood schools."

He further notes that the town attorney is researching whether the town could sue the school system, and on what legal grounds. If this can be done it may start a legal process that could help stop the insane practice of making young students spend so much time riding the bus and could let them spend more time actually getting an education and spending quality time with their families.

NC 55 Widening in Wake County

According to Bruce Siceloff's note in the December 19 News and Observer the long awaited widening of NC 55 is about to be completed.

Mr. Siceloff had this to say in his December 19th article about NC 55 widening: "No fooling. By the end of this week, the state Department of Transportation expects to have all four lanes of N.C. 55 open for traffic from U.S. 64 in Apex north to Interstate 40."

Unfortunately neither the State DOT or the Town of Apex has a solution to address the fact that the part of NC55 through the southern part of Apex is now and will remain the sole major bottleneck providing commuters with a daily dose of traffic frustrations. There is no plan to replace the old train underpass in Apex or widen the part of NC55 that goes right through town so most of the commuters will still turn off NC55 and take short cuts through neighborhood streets as they have been doing for many years.

This is yet another demonstration of the shortsightedness of the State and the Town in getting ahead of traffic and being able to handle the rapid growth that wont slow down in our lifetimes.

The Town of Apex has recently released an announcement that a plan has been set in motion to add a new section of the "Apex Peakway" that is intended to provide a route to connect both ends of the NC55 Apex blockade but this will be at least two or three years (if not more) in the making. Even then commuters will have to make additional turns and navigate onto town streets to go around the bottleneck.

If you are one of the many that has to deal with this never ending problem get in touch with your state House or Senate representatives or the head of NC DOT and let them know what you think!

Who's responisbe for NC DOT problems?

It would seem that with all the major problems in road construction, planning, repair of repairs and mis-management of taxpayer dollar expenditures that the top person in North Carolina's Department of Transportation would bear the ultimate responsibility for bungled work. News articles are frequently seen about state funds falling short of what is needed for building new roads, repairing and repaving of existing roads and planning of major new roads needed to handle the rapid growth in many areas of the state. Could it be that there is a problem from the top down in running the DOT?

State Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett is at the top of the chain and is a political appointee in Governor Easley's organization. It's interesting that with all the problems that keep surfacing that the top man in the DOT has not admitted to being ultimately responsible for state road issues and has not been replaced. Could this be just another indicator that the "good old boy" system is alive and well in state politics and that nothing will change until a new Governor is elected?

A December, 2006, article discusses responsibilities and salaries of a number of people in the DOT organization and indicates that Secretary Tippett issues reprimands for poor performance. Nothing has been said about Tippett's salary and whether he should be held accountable for poor performance and management...

News and Observer
December 16, 2006
Bruce Siceloff and Toby Coleman, Staff Writers

3 rebuked for road failures
The transportation secretary issues written warnings, saying that the public's trust must be regained

State Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett said Friday that three department administrators were reprimanded for their involvement in the failed Interstate 40 widening project in Durham County that will require an estimated $18.6 million repair.

In a six-page report to the state Board of Transportation, Tippett identified 10 present and former Department of Transportation engineers and administrators who played key roles in planning, designing and building the 10.6-mile Durham County project, which was finished in 2004. Three of the 10 were singled out for the only disciplinary actions DOT has announced.

"The result of these errors has created a decrease in public confidence and trust in the Department," Tippett wrote in a memo. "Accountability for the errors is essential to re-establishing the public confidence and the integrity of the Department." Read more...