[TriLUG] [OT] TriLUGger on the news

[Magnus]

Tom Eisenmenger wrote:
> For your numbers to be a valid comparison you would have to factor in
> all the counties served by that stretch of US158:   Vance, Warren,
> Halifax, Northampton, Hertford, Bertie, Gates....  Of these, Halifax is
> probably the wealthiest - we are located right on the I-95 corridor
> which does bring in some revenue.

I also left out the counties surrounding Wake that are serviced by 
Triangle highways.  You probably don't want those numbers in there for 
the purposes of this discussion.  It will make anyone wonder why the 
roads down east are even paved in the first place. :)

Anyway, population figures from 2000:

Halifax: 57,370
Vance: 42,954
Warren: 19,972
Northampton: 22,086
Hertford: 22,601
Bertie: 19,773
Gates: 10,516
**TOTAL: 195,272**

Wake County: 627,846

Highway projects in the remote counties are mostly efforts based on the 
hope that somehow, some way, someday businesses will be lured in and 
bring jobs to the region.  Procrastinating on these highway projects 
will not ruin a region that has already hit bottom.

Highway projects in the Triangle are trying to stay ahead of the 
explosive population growth that is already happening.  If these 
highways don't happen, it's going to ruin parts of the state that are 
already prosperous.

> And yes, it is the responsibility of the state to "bootstrap" other
> regions.  After all, RTP was just such a bootstrap.

The state played some role in the creation of RTP but it really was a 
joint effort between many entities. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Triangle_Park

If the state can manage to stay ahead of the growth in the populated 
areas and at the same time try to better connect the remote regions, so 
much the better.  But building a road to nowhere hoping that someone 
will make it a somewhere someday is called "gambling".  Do what you can 
today to make it a destination where people want to be, and when 100 
people a day start moving to Halifax County and demanding better roads, 
I'm sure the state will start paying more attention.