Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Government Organizations

How the Lure of Spending Keeps Dumb Highway Projects Alive

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 2, 2015 | 11 Comments

Decades ago, Ohio officials drew a line on a map — the Eastern Corridor, a highway for commuters living in Cincinnati’s eastern suburbs. No matter how much time has passed and how little sense it makes to build that highway today, that line can still seem like destiny. The Eastern Corridor began as a 1960s […]

Americans Are Driving Less, But Road Expansion Is Accelerating

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 20, 2015 | 14 Comments

Americans drive fewer miles today than in 2005, but since that time the nation has built 317,000 lane-miles of new roads — or about 40,000 miles per year. Maybe that helps explain why America’s infrastructure is falling apart. The new data on road construction comes from the Federal Highway Administration and reached our attention via Tony Dutzik at the Frontier […]

Wisconsin Dumps One Urban Highway Boondoggle in Favor of Another

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 19, 2015 | 5 Comments

One of the nation’s most poorly conceived highway proposals will become slightly less ridiculous. Transportation officials in Wisconsin recently announced they will no longer consider double-decking a portion of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee. The billion-dollar project would have raised the highway to building height in the Story Hill neighborhood. Wisconsin DOT hasn’t seen the light, […]

4 Things to Know as Transportation Bill Negotiations Heat Up

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 18, 2015 | 10 Comments

Lawmakers in Washington are just beginning their latest attempt to craft the first long-term transportation bill in roughly a decade. The current bill expires in just a few months, on May 31, but in Congress that’s an eternity. While it’s a long way from go time, the contours of the debate are starting to become […]

Obama’s New Transportation Budget: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 2, 2015 | 7 Comments

With federal transportation funding on track to run dry by May 31, Washington lawmakers are gearing up again to reset national transportation policy… or, if that doesn’t work out, to limp along indefinitely under the status quo. Today President Obama unveiled his opening bid in this process. The $478-billion, six-year plan from the White House includes many […]

What They’re Doing for Bike Safety in Wyoming: Mandatory Orange Vests

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 30, 2015 | 32 Comments

A bill introduced in the Wyoming statehouse would require cyclists to wear “two hundred square-inches of reflective neon” and carry a government-issued ID. The legislation would also require cyclists to have a rear light, even though another law already requires that, according to Jackson Hole News and Guide. Brian Schilling, coordinator of Jackson Hole Community Pathways, told […]

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