Progress at What Cost?

I have had many things to complain about on my drives into work over the years but in recent times I have had a mainly opposite direction commute so when traffic is backed up in one direction I'm happily going in the other. I haven't ever viewed that as a problem mainly because I spend relatively less time staring at other bumpers and more time on the road getting to and from work. Still, as often is the case, getting to the highway is where delays often occur. Near home I live pretty close to the highway so getting there truly is half the fun. On the flip side, I'm not so close and getting from my office to the highway can be a pain at times. Especially on Route 28 in Northern Virginia.

For those familiar with the area you'll know that Route 28 is a North-South route which until a few years ago was peppered with traffic lights. At the time it was initially constructed, the number of people living and working in this part of Virginia was relatively small. Over the years, a number of companies have entered the area making it the Information Technology corridor of the area and as a result of the housing boom that swept the country a few years ago housing popped up around the area as well. So an area that was considered the boonies when I was growing up is now considered the main drag for a lot of the contractors who help make Washington work the way it does. So it's only natural that a road meant to service a few hundred cars a day would be ill-equipped to handle a few thousand cars a day. And since about 2003, efforts have been going on to replace the traffic lights with highway interchange style exits and entry ramps.

This work has been largely successful and I can tell you that commute time from one end of 28 to the other is becoming a pleasure. I think it's a bit more dangerous because people basically treat it like another highway now and so some people can hit up to 80 or 90 miles per hour on what is essentially a side road running parallel to the runways at Dulles Airport. I guess some people get their kicks in racing Airbuses as they shoot down the runways. Still, while I'm happy that the work is making my commute that much easier, I still feel a twinge of regret every time I drive past the latest interchange construction site mainly because I see the number of trees being knocked down as a consequence. While I understand that this sort of thing is essential for the road to even be made, I can't help but feel some guilt over the fact that trees that have stood in those spots for decades are being knocked down and converted to mulch just so that we can get to and from work faster.

It's a small thing but still, our growth is outpacing the ability of our leaders to keep pace with our demands. Case in point is India. A few decades ago the idea of everyone owning a car was unfathomable, now it's commonplace and roads that were built for a handful are in no-way, shape, or form, ready to take on so many new car owners, buses and the like. I can see the same thing happening here. When I grew up, having a car in high school was a luxury or something you saved up for from freshman year. I drive past high schools now where the student parking lots have three times the number of cars of the teachers lot. We're going to have to keep working the infrastructure to keep pace with all these things and I can just imagine the necessary sacrifices. More trees and more of nature being pushed aside in the name of progress.