Road builder Bill Clarkson Jr. and a ring of mulch overlooking 69 Highway awaited Vice President Joe Biden when he got out of his big Cadillac in Overland Park yesterday afternoon.
The v.p. was accompanied by former and current Kansas governors Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson, as well as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The group surveyed the work being done on a section of U.S. 69 near 103rd Street. This $82 million project is receiving funds from the federal stimulus package.
Biden was long-winded but mostly gaffe-free (I saw a few stray winces when he referred to Interstate 435 as "495"). The vice president used most of his address to promote the $787-billion stimulus package's powers to create and save jobs. "This is about real, live people," he said.
Biden drew a comparison between the stimulus plan and the construction
of the U.S. highway system during the Eisenhower administration. In
doing so, Biden pointed out one of the recovery plan's flaws: It
promotes sprawl, whose days President Obama has numbered.
A fact sheet on the Kansas Department of Transportation Web site calls U.S. 69 an "economic engine." It's true that a lot of employment hugs U.S. 69 and I-435. But KDOT fancies a world in which the population south of 435 doubles by 2020, "thanks to the speedy, convenient access US-69 provides." Pretty hard to square sub-435 population growth with the president's comment that the days of sprawl are over.
Alas, road building is an activity that politicians of all stripes like to perform. Joining Biden and the governors in the celebration of asphalt were Johnson County Commission Chairwoman Annabeth Surbaugh, oversized novelty Mayor (O.P. edition) Carl Gerlach and Unified Government Mayor Joe Reardon. Pat O'Neill, a political consultant the Heavy Constructors tap to deliver their message, and Bridgette Williams, head of the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, also took in the spectacle.
Politicians, business and labor all in agreement? No wonder metro Kansas City is so rich with highways and poor in other things that matter.
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Deb Miller was not on the stage, but she was in attendance. In fact, she got a lot of love from the speakers, including the V.P.
One might wonder why our own Kansas Sec. of Transportation, Sec. Deb Miller was not in attendance? As sisterly as Sec. Sebelius is with Deb, it must mean that Deb is on the outs with Kathy. Hmmm. Well, KDOT did put up some wind turbines, with payback time roughly equal to their lifespans. Another "gift" from Ms. Sebelius.
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