Wider 101, Surplus Smog?

For more information see this link.

http://eugeneswilson.com/blog/2009/06...

It may seem counterintuitive. Increased CO2 at least seems possible after freeway-widening that results in overall increased traffic. Another increase "source" suggested is population growth. Whether it is population growth or freeway widening I don't see the difference given our seemingly perpetual and dominate transportation system.

What makes more smog ? A car starting and stopping at 5mph or one that is traveling at 55mph?

Once they finish the widening that should have been done decades ago at a fraction of the cost.... the CO levels will go down and the traffic will flow.

Seriously, its not rocket science.

cartoonz, what part of "the increased emissions stem from the increased traffic on the wider freeway" don't you understand? The widening will result in more trips, more miles traveled, more CO2 produced. Perhaps your problem is that you're not clear on the difference between CO2 and CO.

Every 7 to 8 years off of Coal Oil Point we have the eqivalent amount of natural oil leaking of a "Exxon Valdez" oil tanker. In case you forgot that was 10.8 million gallons of oil and it covered over 11,000 square miles. Until we tap into these natural seeps and remove this oil it will continue to happen. And this doesn't mention anything about the natural gas seeping which also contributes to the over all CO 2 levels.
I really don't think it will matter that much how many cars travel up and down the freeway when you have something as huge as this happening every day right off our coast.

Chainsaw is quite correct. The natural gas seeps off Coal Oil Point contribute as much greenhouse gas as all the traffic on the south coast in any given day. Venoco is proposing tapping some of this gas using new horizontal drilling from their platform Holly. Greenies are opposed. Go figure.

I agree with "Cartoonz." Emissions are worse when a car is idling than when it is going 65. Widening the 101 will get the traffic through faster without the horrible emissions from gridlock.

This is a ridiculous argument. The freeway goes the length of the state, at least, and we aren't entirely responsible for all that traffic. If everyone travels on Interstate 5 instead, then no one stops in our fair city, and we get no revenues......
Remember that there are only two ways in to and out of our city, 101 and 254. Stopping and starting create more emissions that through travel, and it is true that the emissions from the underground oil are also a problem. Also, the smog travels up the coast which you can see if there is a fire in LA or San Diego, so just how is the widening going to cause more traffic???
This is the stupidist argument I have ever encountered.
The man is an idiot.

Sorry for my bad sentence about the smog. The air moves particulate matter north as shown by the smoke offshore during our many fires. I think we get poor air quality from that source also.
Of course that has no bearing on widening the freeway, but bottlenecking the state's traffic in our area doesn't help the air quality from auto emissions. The argument that traffic will increase is really a stretch. It has already increased by the time anyone driving on 101 gets here and has to merge to two lanes to go through our area.
I am really tired of the stupid reasoning used by the author, and by the City of Santa Barbara Transportation Department in the development of city street round-abouts and bump outs.
I already spent my time without a car, and it isn't practicle anymore as I get older. Quit applying your dumb logic to my life.

The round-abouts speed traffic through the intersections, rather than stopping, idling, exhaust-spewing vehicles. At least that's so for the larger one on Milpas that I use several times a day. The only problem with it is the drivers many of whom don't seem to understand that traffic on the left has the right -- and to yield for it. Doesn't help that the city? has put up a sign saying to yield, without saying to yield to traffic coming from the left, NOT the right.

As for more smog on this freeway's widening, I don't understand it.

Getting people out of big gas hogmobiles and into efficient cars only postpones the inevitable. You need to get them out of their personal cars altogether and on mass transit (and guess what? Not trams and trolleys but busses).

Problem is, nothing but impossible-to-afford gas will convince Mr. and Ms. America to do so, and that means huge changes in the American Way of Life...at least for ordinary folk. Montecito won't give a damn.

The city put in roundabouts and didn't tell anyone the rules. There are cars stuck on the outside of the roundabout when the freeway offramp is busy, and no one else can get into the roundabout the times I use it. That is part of the problem with these observations. Just comments about what is happening when the commenter is on the road. Shortsighted, I would say. The roundabouts that are the worst are on the smaller streets, like Olive.