On Expanding Facilities

When someone decides to mindlessly expand a facility (airport or freeway), it's because they skipped the brainstorming ('project development') phase and went directly to evaluating alternatives, most of which are tired--it's a very public policy approach, designed around the impulse to do a BCA to make a decision. But they've skipped the 'System Planning' step, where they look at broader alternatives - expanding an alternate facility or relocating the airport. But that omission may be deliberate, designed to conceal a political decision. It may also be sloppy - a political leader deciding to be decisive.