Recent Streetsblog USA posts about State DOTs

AASHTO: New Rule Makes it Too Hard to Ignore Cyclists and Pedestrians

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 12, 2011 | 30 Comments

For years, state DOTs have exploited a loophole of federal government policy that allowed them to build massive, publicly funded projects without accommodating non-motorized users as long as they could show that “due consideration” had been given to bicyclists and pedestrians. But last year, USDOT gave that requirement some teeth. USDOT issued a directive specifying […]

Transportation for America Calls on Congress to Fix Nation’s Bridges

By Kathryn Reid Moore | Mar 31, 2011 | 2 Comments

Residents in New York and Vermont were shocked in 2009 when the Champlain/Crown Point Bridge was suddenly closed without warning. At the time, the bridge carried about 3,500 cars between the two states daily. Today, those trips have to be taken by ferry or over the next closest bridge, 100 miles away. Few people think […]

“Highway Removal” Project in Cleveland Looks an Awful Lot Like a Highway

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 23, 2011 | 11 Comments

It is an oft-lamented fact, both locally and nationally, that the city of Cleveland hasn’t taken full advantage of its position on the shore of Lake Erie. The national media, in its seemingly boundless enthusiasm for stories about the declining fortunes of the city where I live, is quick to point out that we haven’t […]

State Transpo Officials Push to Toll for Maintenance, Not Just Capacity

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 8, 2011 | 10 Comments

Last week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told state DOT officials gathered at an AASHTO conference in Washington that he was all in favor of tolling – but only to add new capacity. “We believe in tolling,” LaHood said. “You can raise a lot of money with tolls. If a state comes to us with good […]

Puppies and Peanut Butter: Brookings on State Transpo Mistakes

By Tanya Snyder | Feb 23, 2011 | No Comments

As transportation advocates adapt their messaging to a new, more conservative Congress, the language of fiscal conservatism has become the mother tongue of the movement. Smart Growth America and the Bipartisan Policy Center have recently used the fiscal responsibility argument to urge policymakers to invest more strategically, especially as infrastructure budgets shrink. Now the Brookings […]

A State DOT’s Unshakable Highway Fixation

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 10, 2011 | 2 Comments

The South Carolina Department of Transportation is sometimes still familiarly known as the “highway department.” That was, in fact, the agency’s proper title until 1977, when it was changed by order of the general assembly to the Department of Highways and Public Transportation. In many ways, though, the old name still fits. In the 2009-10 […]

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