Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Highway Expansion

Will Missouri Voters Go Along With the Highway Lobby’s Money Grab?

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 30, 2014 | 5 Comments

Next week, Missouri voters will decide on Amendment 7 — a three-quarter-cent sales tax hike to pay for transportation projects that would be the largest tax increase in the state’s history. Construction industry groups have poured millions into convincing Missourians to pay $5.4 billion over the next 10 years. Will they bite? A coalition of pro-transit forces […]

Building Cloverleafs Won’t Inspire Americans to Pay More for Transportation

By Ben Ross | Jul 23, 2014 | 2 Comments

This post by Ben Ross was originally posted at Dissent. The federal transportation fund is running out of money, threatening the country with potholes, stopped construction, and economic downturn. Congress, which has kept the program solvent with short-term patches for years, now finds itself unable to do more than buy a few months’ time. Mainstream opinion pins […]

Moving Cars vs. Investing in Places — The Struggle for American Cities

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 9, 2014 | 13 Comments

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker and Mayor Tom Barrett are brawling in the press over a proposed highway project — a fight that exemplifies the enormous rift in America about what transportation policy should accomplish. Walker still thinks about transportation projects the same way the interstate planners of the 1950s thought about them. In […]

8 Monster Interchanges That Blight American Cities

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 1, 2014 | 104 Comments

Ramming highways through the middle of American cities was undoubtedly one of the worst mistakes of the 20th century — demolishing urban habitat, dividing neighborhoods, and erecting structures that suck the life out of places. What could be worse than a highway through the middle of town? How about when two highways intersect, with all […]

7 Photos Show How Detroit Hollowed Out During the Highway Age

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 24, 2014 | 110 Comments

While searching for images of highway interchanges in urban areas, I came across these historic aerial photos of Detroit on a message board, showing how the city fabric has slowly eroded. It’s a remarkable record of a process that has scarred many other American cities. 1949: Here’s what the east side of the city looked like right […]

Freeway Fight: Scott Walker Wants to Drag Milwaukee Back to 1956

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 20, 2014 | 7 Comments

The mayor and residents of Milwaukee are fighting a massive urban highway project backed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Citing traffic congestion, the state is forging ahead with a $1.2 billion plan to expand Interstate 94. One design under consideration would stack freeway lanes on top of freeway lanes, double-decker style. The state says such […]

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