Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Boondoggles

Ohio Cities to State DOT: No More New Roads, Just Fix What We Have

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 2, 2015 | 28 Comments

Given that the federal Highway Trust Fund is broke and the Interstate Highway System is more or less complete, maybe — just maybe! — it doesn’t make sense to keep expanding highways. And if there’s one place in the country where it’s especially urgent to stop building more highways, it’s northeast Ohio. The combined metro areas of Akron, Cleveland, […]

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 […]

Cincinnati’s Highway Revolt on the Verge of Victory

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 25, 2015 | 2 Comments

Could the end be near for the $1.4 billion Eastern Corridor highway project proposed for eastern Cincinnati? Language added to Ohio’s transportation budget, which is being debated right now, would specifically “prohibit [Ohio DOT] from funding the Eastern Corridor Project in Hamilton County.” The amendment was introduced by Republican state lawmaker Tom Brinkman, who represents an eastern portion […]

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, […]

Talkin’ Infrastructure With Chuck Marohn, Mike McGinn, and Kevin Shephard

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 17, 2015 | 2 Comments

Last week, Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns hosted a video panel to discuss a very hot topic: How America’s infrastructure got to be in such bad shape. This “Friday News Discussion” featured former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, Kevin Shepard, a Texas-based professional engineer and principal at the firm Verdunity, and me, representing Streetsblog. It was especially […]

The Final Nail? Indiana Gov Says Illiana Expressway Boondoggle “On Hold”

By Kathleen Woodruff | Feb 12, 2015 | 9 Comments

Yesterday, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), under the leadership of Governor Mike Pence, joined newly elected Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in putting his state’s commitment to the Illiana Expressway project on hold. The Illiana would run through cornfields and cost as much as $3 billion to build, putting taxpayers […]

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