Now I've heard it all!
Lake Annette is a small town South of Kansas City about 30 miles. I grew up around the area and it's always been known to have "real curb appeal". Before I get tons of nasty e-mails from the residents of said town, I'd like to say my peace. I have nothing against the Lake Annette residents who live there. Although I do question many of the peoples motives for living in an area that is known to be in an active flood plain.
The last major flood happened in May of 2004. It ruined several houses and left several families and individuals homeless.
The topic of this story revolves around the recent news story where Lake Annette will be charging a toll for those individuals that use the road as a short cut between C and 2 Hwy.
My real beef is with the city government of Lake Annette. I'm not certain how they can enforce a toll. The operating and start up costs are sure to far exceed the revenue generated. And with that being said, those individuals that use Lake Annette road as a short-cut (as do I all the time) won't find it that much of an inconvenience to take C on through to 2 Hwy. Honestly taking the Lake Annette shortcut isn't that big of a time saver. I use that route more for a scenery intake. It is a nice little windy road that dips and curves throughout the route. It's very peaceful and serene.
I'm curios how much traffic really does merely run through. I've never seen a vehicle counter in the road, and I most recently went that route just a couple weeks ago. I also prefer this route, as generally it's a road less traveled.
I suppose all-in-all, if the money generated really can help the town fix the pot-hole stricken road, then I'm all for it. But in just the 5 minutes of thought I put into the idea, I felt that there has to be more to the story than what meets the eye. For some reason I feel the idea is ludicrous and it's merely an attempt for a small town politician to generate some unmanaged revenue.
Here is the news story...<UPDATED> But wait... there's more. This isn't the first time Lake Annette made the news. Back in 2003, the New York Times ran a pretty good story on the old town. Seems very fitting. It's been a while, but I doubt things have changed that much.
Read the wonderful review from the
New York Times here.
<UPDATED> But wait... I just received my first e-mail from a Lake Annette resident. They asked that they remain anonymous and that I not post their e-mail. The gist of the e-mail stated I was (and I quote), "
crass, ignerant, and self rigteous idot with nothing better to do than to put yourself on a pedistel and take craks at those less of than you. remove your letter from your site immediately as you are joking the residents of this town. if you dont we will seek legal action..."
I actually received this e-mail while updating the post to be more fluid and give people a better understanding of my opinion. I apologize for any misunderstanding.
It's not the first time, and won't be the last. Lake Annette has flooded again. Lake Annette has been doing a good job at keeping in the nightly Kansas City news. Herschel Young claimed that the legality of creating a toll road was always a question; but was done more so to create a stir in order for the county to pay up sooner and help fix their roads.
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