- Occupy Chicago’s nickname for Chicago’s infamous Mayor Rahm Emanuel, “Mayor 1%,” is looking more accurate than ever—but for reasons that do not fit the self-proclaimed “99 percent’s” typical narrative. More likely, Emanuel’s plan to spend millions on the 1% percent will receive applause from the Occupy crowd, good “environmentalists” that they are.
This $91 million expenditure will go towards bringing roughly 650 miles of new protected bike lanes to the city of Chicago over the next eight years. This, Mayor Emanuel says, will add more “transportation choices” and help the city recruit start-up companies.
Leaving aside for the moment the loss of traffic lanes, the narrowing of other lanes, and the pushing cars closer together to head-on collisions, is the cost per mile here:
- $91 million dollars / 650 miles of bike lanes = $140,000 per mile.
Chicago isn't broke if Rahm's pissing away nearly $100 million dollars on the 1.3% of Chicagoans who actually use the bike lanes.