How did the Beltline take preference 8 years after the planning of widening Spring road?

Planning for Spring Avenue has existed since before the 1990's. Many delays are normal, especially for roads that are not (at some point in their existence) major artery roads. Hwy 67 is a state road, a major road. To do the work on the Beltline, all other feeder-roads ( like Spring Ave ) must be available to take traffic off of the Beltline. If Spring Avenue was under construction the same time as the Beltline, the nightmare would be worse. Everyone is doing all they can to make this happen as fast as they can. Remember, the key ingredient in many delays is the access to funding. The rules and time frames for the road "grants" are set by the DOT. We don't tell them what to do. They tell us.

Government is the problem.

The city had a choice to try to comply with the regulation: either negotiate more rights of way or install guard rails. City Engineer Mark Petersohn cautioned against putting up metal guard rails, which he said would have been cheaper in the near term but posed aesthetic and safety concerns in the long run.

So guardrails will not "look good." What safety concerns, be specific. I thought guardrails helped to save lives. Am I wrong? If so why?