Poll: Use transportation money for Hwy. 101

A majority of respondents in an online Argus-Courier poll said that transportation funds recently made available should go toward widening Highway 10 south of Petaluma, not to redesign the San Rafael Transit Center, a key part of a commuter rail project.|

A majority of respondents in an online Argus-Courier poll said that transportation funds recently made available should go toward widening Highway 10 south of Petaluma, not to redesign the San Rafael Transit Center, a key part of a commuter rail project. Nearly 90 percent said the bulk of the $18.2 million earmark should go to the Sonoma County Transportation Authority for 101, while 10 percent said it should go to the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit agency.

Here are some comments:

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“No brainer. Get the highway done.”

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“Let’s focus on the big picture and where more use stems from than benefiting only SMART and their cause.”

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“More people use 101 than will ever use the SMART train.”

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“Neither. It should go to repair roads. David Rabbitt is on all these agencies. He’s also the 5th district supervisor. We need road repair desperately. Sonoma County keeps expanding, but won’t take care of what is deeded most. Fix what have.”

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“Since Marin County refuses to assist with traffic abatement in their back yard, the money should be spent in this fashion so that the issues we deal with daily are pushed directly into their lap.”

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“SMART can’t even figure out how to build a station for the east side of town, which to me proves they really do not know what they are doing.”

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“The 101 project is the obvious choice. Most of it is completed already so finishing it should be the top priority. And besides, we all know that no one is going to use that train to nowhere.”

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“There will be exponentially more people benefited by the 101 widening. SMART is well intended but shouldn’t suck the life out of other more urgent projects. The money grab by SMART is tawdry when viewed in the bigger picture. The train won’t help many commuters since we need our vehicles for work.”

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“This stretch of Highway 101 has been the same two lanes since being built in the 1950s. Causing future growth or not, this road needed to be upgraded 30 years ago.”

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“We have invested so much in SMART. Let’s complete it and get cars off the road.”

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