Re: “Tolls on SR 167 HOT lanes finally overtake spending” (TNT, 12-27).

Perhaps a different headline would be more appropriate for this story: “DOT cooks the books in order to prove themselves right” or “DOT uses accounting smoke and mirrors to justify money-losers.”

Didn’t we just go through a financial crisis in this country, much of it due to phony “accounting profits”? And now The News Tribune writes a front-page story celebrating the same “sham” accounting tactics that brought us Enron, AIG, Lehman Brothers and a host of others.

Do we never learn? Why do we keep handing blank …

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The Sprague Avenue exit ramp off state Route 16, the one with the serious accident just waiting to happen, would be made much safer with a simple addition: a flashing red light.

It appears that when the state Department of Transportation finishes that high-rise intersection in a couple years or so, it will include a stop signal because of crossing traffic. Why not add some large signage (Stop Ahead) and bold, flashing red lights to make the need to seriously slow down (stop?) more obvious?

It seems like a cheap way to keep someone from crashing through the jersey barriers …

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Re: “Sprague off-ramp latest obstacle for SR 16 drivers” (TNT, 8-2).

The editorial is critical of the state Department of Transportation design and says that it contributes to more accidents.

The most important sentence in the editorial was, “The designers seem to have missed the fact that at least 30 percent of drivers are distracted, incompetent, intoxicated, superannuated, impulsive or inexperienced. They left the human factor out of a configuration that looked good on draft paper.”

The human factor is what every driver relies on when we are driving on a freeway with other cars in close proximity. We don’t …

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Re: “Tollpayers at bridges may face increases” (TNT, 6-5).

Kudos to Jim Pasin and the other members of the Citizen Advisory Committee who sharpened their pencils and worked so hard to keep Narrows Bridge tolls low. I fervently hope they stick to their practice of recommending that Narrows Bridge tolls, and the corresponding fund balance, be kept as low as possible.

State Treasurer Jim McIntire’s ambition to increase the fund balance is misguided and ultimately not beneficial to the tollpayers. Any large, untapped fund balance only encourages extravagant spending by those with access to it and …

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Re: “Tollpayers at bridges may face increases” (TNT, 6-5).

What’s the matter with this picture? The state wants and probably will get an increase in the toll to cross the Narrows Bridge even though it cannot keep its own house in order well enough to even collect the tolls that are due.

It orders new Good to Go stickers knowing full well that they will not be read by the equipment being used on the bridge. What’s with that? It sure looks like we are being taken for another ride.

Re: “Cascadia project has new owner, new hope” (TNT, 3-24).

For years Pierce County has allowed almost unlimited residential building in this area resulting in a lot of traffic congestion on state Route 162, especially at commuting hours.

Before there is more added congestion, the highway needs to be widened from two lanes to four. But being a state highway, only the state can take on this project.

What is Pierce County doing to get the state to take on this badly needed project? Stop adding more huge residential building projects like Cascadia until we get the highway problem solved. …

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Money wasted on the ferry system with overtime gone wild. Money wasted with a mistake on the state Route 16 project. Now comes news that the new Good to Go transponders are not compatible with the Narrows Bridge tolling system.

Isn’t it time that Paula Hammond took responsibility for the messes under her command and step down? We need a new leader who can get the DOT under control.

OK, I couldn’t resist, and I’ll go ahead and say what everyone was thinking.

After reading the headline – “Bridge only looks like it’s to nowhere” (TNT, 10-1) – I have to wonder:
With the engineering crew they are using on this project, does anyone really know for sure ?