Now, I’m no stranger to schemes dressed up as progress, nor am I blind to the kind of arithmetic that makes a man pay twice for the same stretch of dirt. Come May 7th at six o’clock sharp, over at the Spanish Springs Library, a gathering of fine folk—Washoe County officials and the Spanish Springs Citizens Advisory Board—will be hosting what they call a “meeting.”
That’s polite speak for giving the public a whiff of what’s already cooking behind the curtain.
Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson, a man of well-pressed shirts and well-rehearsed answers, will stand alongside the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) to sing the praises of a proposed toll road stretching eastward to the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. Now, they’ll tell you it’s for convenience, progress, and the ever-noble cause of reducing congestion.
But mark my words: this ain’t no charitable cause.
The fine print—and there’s always fine print—reveals that this ribbon of pavement won’t be cheap. Drivers will pay to pass, not just once but thrice, as they’ll also have to pay the price tag and taxes.
Over time, what trickles from your pocket will amount to a gusher—far more than the cost of the asphalt itself. The toll road is less a thoroughfare and more a siphon, dressed in high-visibility vests and bureaucratic grins.
Ever eager to dazzle with maps and models, the RTC will trot out timelines, project charts, and plans so sweeping it’ll need a separate zip code. They’ll talk of “prioritization” and “next steps,” as if the future were a paint-by-numbers kit.
So, if you’ve a mind to keep your wallet from developing a permanent limp, best saddle up and ride down to the meeting. Progress may be inevitable—but paying more than a road is worth ought not to be.
The Old Blog in the Desert 