Brown cloud sure to come

The Arizona Republic
Mar. 10, 2006 12:00 AM

The activities at the recent meetings of the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team are a reminder of the bias that seems to be built into the internal workings of the Arizona Department of Transportation.

By its own admission, ADOT is not required to consider the health effects of PM 2.5, the most deadly of the particulates emitted by autos and trucks. Its conclusion that the area "will continue to meet federal standards" is probably based on one of its computer models with automobile traffic moving at 55 mph. But what will happen when all the Texas-to-LA trucks combine with rush-hour commuters to bring traffic to a crawl? More brown cloud, irritated eyes and asthma, I suspect.

Will the residents of Ahwatukee, Laveen, Tolleson, etc., really invite this plague upon themselves? Or will they ask their government to start looking at public transportation and low impact, environmentally friendly solutions?  

ADOT obviously won't do it on its own, so maybe we should just rename the agency to match its image of itself; it could be ADOF, the Arizona Department of Freeways. - Jon Findley, Tempe