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This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

morganb, writing in the comments, makes what is, I think, a relatively common observation:

So, while I believe that the imperative to act is more urgent than some do, I really think that focusing on this moment in time as our only opportunity prevents us from looking into the future. Politics on transportation and on the environment are in flux right now, and we need to preserve our capacity to adjust as the times change.

Even if we pass Prop. 1, we can still adjust our priorities down the road, as public sentiment in the 3-county region moves more towards morganb’s perspective. Construction isn’t set to begin on many of these projects (light rail and highways) until 2018 or later. And heck, if we can stop construction on the monorail mere months before it starts, surely we can stop construction on anything, right?

For example, Salt Lake City recently announced that the extension of their light rail network, originally planned for 2030, would be open by 2012. How? They were able to pass a referendum to generate extra cash. We could easily do the same thing here, should we decide to plow more money into light rail and less into road building. But first we have to have the framework in place, and that’s what Prop 1 provides.