Widening and Expanding Highway 111

By Martin "Marty" Lax

The Desert Sun wants Highway 111 widened. Its Editorial Board Members are not Indian Wells residents. Indian Wells does not need to be surrounded by two super-highways. I'm the only candidate who says we do not need to widen because:

♦ Traffic studies prove that expanding roads do not reduce congestion in the long-term;
♦ Coachella Valley Association of Government's (CVAG) traffic projections assume a complete build out of Valley properties, and base calculations on use during a two-month peak period only;
♦ Indian Wells' 1997 City Survey revealed that two-thirds of our residents were against a median;
♦ Indian Wells will not recoup $30+ million in construction costs for at least five years nor will we receive any interest [at least $15 million] from CVAG;
♦ Expanding Highway 111 by 12 to 21 feet toward residential windows is inconsiderate;
♦ Highway 111 in Palm Desert is six lanes and it is still congested;
♦ More cars lead to more accidents, more noise, more pollution and reduces open space;
♦ Fred Waring's six lanes are under utilized and traffic counts remain unchanged from 2000 to 2006;
♦ Traffic studies show less drastic remedies relieve congestion effectively;
♦ We can improve traffic flow with smart lights, left turn signals, right turn lanes, signal synchronization, increased police presence, lower speed limit and Red Light Camera Program.