The Other Road to Nowhere

When you hear of all the domestic government belt tightening and the mounting deficit to fight foreign wars, there's one thing that no one seems to want to curtail...roads. The Federal Highway Administration must be the sacred cow that all of Washington worships. We can cut funds to poor folk, education, medical research, the arts, even close military bases...but we never seem to lose our zeal to pour money into useless road projects.
The latest waste of $2,100,000 is on the Parsons Branch Road. (Note to all supporters of the North Shore Road..2.1 MILLION for ONE washout..of a gravel road!!) This gravel road is designed to wash out in heavy rains as it has repeatedly over the years. Each time, the Feds pony up a half million or so to rebuild it, so a few folks who get tired of waiting in traffic on the Cades Cove Loop Road can escape and end up lost on "The Dragon" of US 129. Rep. Jimmy Duncan, who votes against any spending outside of his district has championed the Parsons Branch Road of late, to garner the Towsend vote, which I'm sure he'd get anyway. So why does he do it? I have no clue, maybe he thinks the ol "Parson" will forgive his misplaced frivolity this particular piece of pork.
The Parson Branch Road would make a fine bike trail, except the NPS currently doesn't like mountain bikes, for some strange reason..guess they don't pollute enough. There is some legislation out there to allow mountain bikes in the Nat'l Parks, but it seems to be so rife with "multiple use" diatribe that it may never pass. Suffice it to say that don't believe that government has been limited over the last 10 years....only reapportioned as asphalt.