That was quick. Whatever happened to 2013? It came and went faster than a Katie Couric talk show gig. The New Year is upon us. That means we need to address some local priorities in 2014. Here are six to consider:

El Camino Real: Very quietly, there is a movement underway to make major changes on the Peninsula's signature boulevard. The idea is to expand the roadway in order to accommodate more traffic -- buses in particular.

However, such plans would come at the expense of certain attractive and iconic portions of the historic north-south route. For example, how, precisely, is it possible to increase the number of lanes in the exceedingly tight corridor stretching from Second Avenue in San Mateo north to Davis Drive in Burlingame without drastically altering the alignment?

The threat of the removal of heritage trees and the inevitable encroachment onto private property, more than likely, will cause an uproar loud enough to put the brakes on the process, or at least slow the effort to a crawl.

Ugly construction: They are popping up all over San Mateo County these days. We are referring, of course, to new multistory apartment and condominium complexes near public transportation options like Caltrain and SamTrans.

The concept may be laudable, but, too often, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Stark examples abound. Redwood City, San Mateo, Millbrae and other communities now find themselves with unattractive monoliths that are decidedly out of place in the suburbs. The aim seems to be to force the creation of ugly, cookie-cutter buildings on an unsuspecting and generally unaware populace. Once the blighted structures begin to rise, it's too late to do anything about them. Perhaps we should be paying more attention during the planning stage.


Common Core: This is a sea change for public education along the Peninsula and in California. It is a federal system of teaching and evaluating English and math skills for elementary and high school students; it has been adopted in total by 38 states. Four states have opted out of the setup completely. Eight more are in various stages of delay, analysis, reconsideration or litigation. A key aim is to standardize instruction in English and math across the country. It's going to be a challenge to implement in 2013-14.

Runaway enviros: At some point, the true believers in the green movement will have to be tempered. Please, let's have some restraint. But reining in the zealots won't be easy. They are seen as trendy and, somehow, the salvation of us all. But escalating energy bills may cause customers to think again. Penalties for using paper bags ought to be reconsidered. A constant cascade of questionable decisions based on "green" parameters, regardless of validity, should be scrutinized far more carefully. That includes trash/garbage collection procedures based primarily on costly recycling considerations. Maybe reason eventually can prevail.

High-speed rail: This financial nightmare is showing distinct signs of being slowed down considerably. And this could be the year when, finally, a stake is jammed through its profligate heart. That's because it's entirely possible that conservative Republicans could retake the U.S. Senate and hold the House of Representatives in the coming fall's general election.

Critics of the grandiose fast train plan, which is supposed to link Los Angeles and San Francisco, are hoping that the GOP, with control of Congress and the federal purse strings, will apply the brakes to it by starving it of vital taxpayer dollars once and for all. Eventually, that denial, combined with adverse court rulings and increasing public disenchantment, may provide the final nail in the HSR coffin.

Health insurance: The massive experiment has begun in earnest. The Affordable Care Act, with some notable eleventh-hour exemptions and wobbly fits and starts, is in effect throughout the country. For San Mateo County authorities, the true fiscal impact of the controversial law's implementation probably won't be felt until federal reimbursements for new Medi-Cal patients begin to be trimmed back within the next several years as outlined in the complex legislation.
