Yogi Berra to Kerry Stemler on tolling boondoggles: "It's deja vu all over again."

For New Albanian readers, consider what Daniel Borsch asks at Say NO to Bridge Tolls:

"If a wealthy area outside Washington, DC won't pay to use a toll road, what do you think is going to happen in Louisville?"

While reading Renn's article, pay special attention to the skewed traffic projections and non-transponder pay rates. It merely confirms that Kerry Stemler and his ilk have become human trick-or-treat costumes. Unfortunately, the penalty they'll be exacting from the metro area goes just a bit further than toilet-papering one's house.

This Is What a Boondoggle Looks Like, by Aaron M. Renn (Urbanophile)

I’ve recently reported on a couple of mega-bridge mega-boondoggles in progress in Louisville and Portland. But if you want to see a preview of how this might play out in real life when and if they are built, an example of this is in progress in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC with the Intercounty Connector.

And then the punch line, with audio clips of Stemler giggling:

So head’s up to local leaders everywhere. If the DOT and its allies cram a mega-boondoggle road or bridge down your throats, it’s your fault if it doesn’t produce the economic benefits they projected. Better buckle up. Because apparently being a boondoggler means you never have to say you’re sorry.