Your anecdote reminds me of my experience in Salt Lake City. When I lived and worked in SLC back during the mid and late 90s, light rail was being proposed, especially with 2002 Olympic Games bearing down. Politicians proposed a simple north-south grid with some east-west connections. Well, the residents were up in arms! How dare you take away our right to driving in heavy traffic on i15. Fast forward 18 years and light rail has been such a huge success in SLC, people have fought for a spur to come to their neighborhood. This is another example of an infrastructure project that was good for all, not just a few profiteering politicians and contractors. Say what you will, but those Mormons know how to manage their municipalities (no offense to people of the LDS Church).