Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Highway Expansion

The Columbia River Crossing: A Highway Boondoggle in Disguise

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 14, 2011 | 11 Comments

The Columbia River Crossing is a mega-project by any standard. A bridge replacement, a highway widening, and light rail project wrapped into one, the CRC is a proposal to span the distance between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. With a $3.2 billion price tag — by conservative estimates — it would be the largest public […]

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 […]

In Charleston, an Affordable, Effective Alternative to Highway Expansion

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 9, 2011 | 2 Comments

Roads like Charleston’s Savannah Highway are a common sight across America: a suburban arterial marked by high-speeds, dangerous pedestrian crossings and depressing aesthetics. A five-lane strip of asphalt surrounded by used car dealerships and motels, it’s heavy on parking and curb cuts, light on crosswalks and trees. Like many streets of this type, Savannah Highway […]

SGA: Transportation Funding Pays Big Dividends Only If Invested Wisely

By Tanya Snyder | Feb 7, 2011 | 2 Comments

In just the last month, several reports have quantified, in various ways, how investing in transportation infrastructure pays off in jobs and economic health. Now Smart Growth America is out with new research showing that it’s not enough to plunk down a bunch of money and expect miracles. You’ve got to do it right. Doing […]

Twin Cities Rein in Highway Expansions, Tame Runaway Transpo Spending

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 12, 2011 | 1 Comment

The Twin Cities region is reassessing the role of highways in its transportation system. Like many communities throughout the country, Minneapolis-St. Paul is moving beyond the decades-old assumption that the only way to eliminate congestion is with more outward-stretching asphalt. This fall, officials in the Twin Cities voted to roll back highway expansions and increase […]

Mica Is Against “Paving Over America,” For “Cars in Shoulder Lanes”

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 23, 2010 | 3 Comments

I know I said I wasn’t going to post during my vacation, but I thought you’d be interested in this new report from the FHWA, and, perhaps more notably, the Republican reaction to it. The agency just submitted a report to Congress on the use of highway shoulder lanes as traffic lanes. (It’s not online, […]

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