No wonder suburban Republicans think we need to pave every last inch of the inner cities. They are so geographically challenged that their idea of a 45-minute drive during afternoon rush-hour traffic takes them on an indirect route through both downtowns. State Rep. Lynne Osterman, R-New Hope, trying to get from the Capitol in St. Paul for a speaking engagement in Bloomington decided it would only take 45-minutes leaving at 3:15pm, driving via I-94 through St. Paul and then Minneapolis to I-35W to I-494 in Bloomington, 6 miles further than taking I-35E south to I-494, and 7 miles further than the shortest and quickest route of taking West 7th Street / Highway 5 and/or Shepard Road from St. Paul to 494.

Rep. Osterman is obviously not the only person who has made or will make such a navigational mistake. But one has to wonder when legislators and politicians take on micro-managing our transportation infrastructure as if they were experts, when they clearly are not.