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I could write this column in the time it takes to travel from the Rio Grande at 8 a.m. each morning to the intersection of Jefferson Blvd. That's how bad the rush hour traffic is on Paseo del Norte between Coors Blvd. and I-25.

I like the idea of a street car running from Nob Hill to the Albuquerque Biological Park, but I'd also like to see the city and the state expedite a resolution to the I-25/Paseo del Norte gridlock. This interchange, which is more like a three-way stoplight, is the third busiest in the city, behind the Big-I and the Coors/I-40 interchange.

The N.M. Department of Transportation says if the reconstruction project was fully funded with $160 million, it could take about 18 months to build, according to a recent story by Tribune reporter Michael Amedeo. But with only $20 million available next year to upgrade the interchange, work will begin at least two to three years from now and be completed in phases for another four to six years.

In the meantime, I'm left with little choice but to consider buying a few more cigarette-lighter-powered gadgets that will keep me relaxed and entertained while my coffee gets cold and I collect dust on Paseo del Norte. The normal in-car activities of eating, talking on the phone, scrolling through e-mails on a BlackBerry and watching a full season of "Sex and the City," while I'm stuck in the city, aren't enough to keep my mind occupied while I'm crawling to work. Sure, I enjoy my collection of audiobooks. But "Atlas Shrugged," by Ayn Rand, and "Ulysses," by James Joyce, are usually finished by the time I travel the quarter mile section of pavement each morning between Jefferson and I-25.

If I drop $100, I can sit motionless on the highway in style with the TheraSpa 10-Motor Heat Massaging Seat Topper. After working me through five different massage zones, the automatic 20-minute on/off switch conveniently saves energy when I fall asleep and spend the next several hours unconscious in an arroyo.

For about $75 more, I can have a 12-volt car espresso maker by Bertone. I just add water and coffee before I set out, and I get a steaming jolt of caffeine to help keep me awake through my heat massage.

Here's the point: I appreciate the efforts by advocates of the "quality of life" tax, and I don't mind extending a transportation tax already in place for a downtown streetcar that has a practical and cosmetic purpose. But needlessly wasting an extra one to two hours a day on metro-area streets is a much bigger quality of life issue for me. I can't enjoy the zoo, the bio-park or the Nob Hill street car if I can't get there.