Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Highway Expansion

Desperate to Keep Highway Money Flowing, Texas Foists Costs Onto Cities

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 21, 2013 | 26 Comments

Faced with an impending budget crisis, the Texas Department of Transportation has decided not to rethink its $5.2 billion plan for a third outerbelt through undeveloped grasslands around Houston. Instead, the agency has developed a proposal to basically shift a big part of its costs to the state’s major cities. The Houston Business Journal reports that […]

Akron’s Jason Segedy: Shrinking Cities Need a New Approach to Mobility

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 7, 2013 | No Comments

There are people like Jason Segedy in every region — people who are trying to move the region forward on a more sustainable and competitive path. But Segedy is a little different: He actually has some power. Segedy is 40 years old and a lifelong resident of Akron, Ohio. He’s also the head of AMATS, […]

Connecticut Borrowing for Road Expansion Like There’s No Tomorrow

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 30, 2013 | 6 Comments

Looks like Connecticut still has’t extricated itself from the “growth ponzi scheme” — you know, gambling on a few road widenings while the bulk of its existing assets slide into disrepair. According to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Connecticut recently approved a $537 million spending package for transportation. And while the spending plan includes some good […]

Birmingham to Widen Downtown Highway While Other Cities Tear ‘Em Down

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 18, 2013 | 5 Comments

Downtown freeways are unmitigated disasters for cities. They ruin the development potential of central city neighborhoods and create dead zones that divide downtown areas. That’s why Milwaukee, San Francisco, New Orleans, Niagara Falls, Oklahoma City, New Haven and Syracuse have either torn them down or are seriously considering it. But Birmingham, Alabama, is on track to […]

Joe Cortright: Death of CRC Signals the End of “Highway Dinosaur Era”

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 10, 2013 | 18 Comments

Last month the Portland mega-highway bridge project known as the Columbia River Crossing died unceremoniously on the floor of the Washington statehouse. But there was some question among project opponents about whether to consider it a victory for smart transportation policy. After all, suburban Republicans opposed to the inclusion of light rail were ultimately the straw […]

How Reason’s Highway Report Works Against Urban Areas

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 9, 2013 | 9 Comments

Just what does good state highway performance look like, according to the climate change skeptics at the Reason Foundation? This “libertarian think tank” — funded by Exxon Mobil and the Koch Family Foundations, among others — has a funny way of judging these things. But media outlets all over the United States are reporting its findings as if they’re gospel. […]

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