Recent Streetsblog USA posts about State DOTs

Ohio: A State DOT That Doesn’t Try to Hide Its Total Disregard for Bike-Ped

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 23, 2011 | 6 Comments

Just how highway-focused is the Ohio Department of Transportation under John Kasich? Well, it’s not good. In fact, it’s sort of laughably, hilariously terrible (if you don’t live here, that is). Yes, ODOT is showing its true colors in its dismissive attitude with the West Shoreway highway-to-boulevard project that Cleveland has been planning for decades. […]

Cash-Strapped Wyoming DOT to Halt Highway Expansion. Will Others Follow?

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 16, 2011 | 10 Comments

Further evidence that the highway era in America is coming to a close: Under financial strain, a state DOT has stepped and up said it will stop expanding highways. Officials at the Wyoming Department of Transportation have said the agency will turn its resources toward maintenance of its existing highways. But even without new construction, […]

Who Killed Transit on the New Tappan Zee? Feds and NY State DOT Won’t Say.

By Noah Kazis | Oct 24, 2011 | No Comments

Call it the mystery of the missing transit. One of New York state’s biggest transit projects, in the works for nearly a decade, was canceled overnight and no one will explain why, or even claim responsibility for the decision. Two weeks ago, each of the four alternatives for replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge, which spans […]

Michigan Puts Road Engineers on Bikes

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 12, 2011 | 12 Comments

Do you ever feel like traffic engineers just don’t get it? That there is a hopeless disconnect between the world of sustainable transportation and the world of “level of service” and “vehicle throughput?” Well, the Michigan Department of Transportation has a remedy for that. They call it “Training Wheels.” Since 2005, MDOT has been putting […]

From Sprawling New Jersey, a New Way Forward for State DOTs

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 3, 2011 | 4 Comments

Despite the rather obvious link between transportation investments and development patterns, land use planning is simply not a consideration at your average state DOT. Most state DOTs — and there are notable exceptions — see their primary responsibility as building highways, never mind that highways are likely to spur outward development, which leads to the […]

Missouri, Welcome to the Era of the Broke State DOT

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 6, 2011 | 5 Comments

Word went out in a press release early last month: The Missouri Department of Transportation would be eliminating 1,200 jobs, closing 135 facilities and selling 740 pieces of equipment. “This is about survival,” said MoDOT spokesman Jorma Duran. “This is about making sure our roads and bridges continue to be maintained and operable.” Drastic times […]

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