Letter to the Editor: Don’t Rewrite Erie’s Mobility Plan for Politics

This letter was sent to Yellow Scene Magazine and included the entire Town of Erie council and town staff. 

To the Editor:

As Erie reviews its community survey results, I’m concerned the Town is headed toward rewriting our Transportation Mobility Plan (TMP) in response to short-term frustrations — especially to justify the County Line Road extension, a project that isn’t even in the current plan.

It appears a majority on the Board — including Mayor Moore and several trustees facing re-election — are preparing to modify the TMP to prioritize traffic relief over safety, fiscal responsibility, and access for all. The timing raises legitimate questions: is this about mobility, or about crafting a campaign win in the 2026 Council elections?

The County Line Road extension has not gone through the vetting or prioritization outlined in the TMP. It lacks a clear connection to the adopted Comprehensive Plan. Advancing it now — before any cost-benefit analysis, safety review, or multimodal impact assessment — is premature at best, and reckless at worst.

We should also be honest about the survey itself. It captures resident frustration, but it doesn’t educate respondents about tradeoffs, long-term maintenance costs, or proven traffic solutions. Using it to justify major capital projects risks turning genuine feedback into political cover for questionable decisions.

We’ve been here before. Towns across the U.S. have spent decades chasing “congestion relief” through lane expansions, only to end up with faster traffic, more dangerous roads, and bigger budgets they can’t sustain. Erie doesn’t need to repeat that pattern — especially when our current TMP offers a smarter, safer path forward.

Instead of rewriting policy to fit politics, the Town should hold a public study session on key transportation principles: induced demand, lifecycle costs, and design strategies that actually work. We should pause new TMP amendments until staff can fully evaluate their impacts. And we should invite a broader range of voices — including multimodal advocates — into the conversation about our streets.

Let’s not confuse motion with progress. Erie deserves transportation policy grounded in data, not election-year urgency.

Sincerely,

Matthew Logan

Erie Colorado Safe Streets Advocates

Erie, CO