Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Highway Expansion

When State DOTs Run Amok: $266M For Widening, Crumbs For Waterfront

By Ben Fried | Nov 20, 2009 | No Comments

Streetsblog New York reported last week on the state DOT’s expensive plan to widen part of the Major Deegan Expressway in the southwest Bronx, even as the agency fails to maintain upstate bridges. More lanes, or more housing and parks? (Image of proposed Deegan Expressway widening: NYSDOT. Image of the community’s plan for a de-commissioned […]

‘This Needs Attention’: Senators Seek Shot in the Arm on Transportation

By Elana Schor | Nov 18, 2009 | No Comments

Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and fellow lawmakers today pressed the Obama administration to take a more active role in ending the current political stalemate over federal transportation funding, but the sense of urgency they sought emerged only intermittently during an 80-minute session on infrastructure. Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary John Porcari (Photo: DayLife.com) […]

‘No Road That We Built in Texas Paid For Itself’

By Matthew Roth | Nov 6, 2009 | No Comments

Over the past two days at the Congress for the New Urbanism Project for Transportation Reform conference, attendees have called for reform at local, regional, and national levels. In a panel debate about the future of transportation funding and the role of regional planning through MPOs, several speakers argued that the foundation of transportation and […]

What Does Virginia’s New Governor Owe the State on Transportation?

By Elana Schor | Nov 5, 2009 | No Comments

In a lean season for in-depth transportation debate, the Virginia gubernatorial contest — won this week by Republican Bob McDonnell — became a proving ground for nationally relevant questions about how to manage the infrastructure of congestion-plagued but still-growing metro areas. Virginia Gov.-elect McDonnell (R) at his first press conference yesterday. (Photo: Virginian-Pilot) Which makes […]

Advice for Policymakers: Time to Check Your Blind Spots

By Ryan Avent | Oct 27, 2009 | 2 Comments

Last week, I left my Washington home, walked to the nearby Metro station, rode a train downtown, walked to the National Press Club, and settled in to hear Steven Rattner, former head of the Obama administration’s auto task force, declare that "no one has yet invented a substitute for the automobile." Steven Rattner (Photo: WSJ) […]

Has Kentucky’s ‘Zombie Highway’ Met its Demise?

By Elana Schor | Oct 19, 2009 | No Comments

Interstate 66, a planned multi-billion-dollar road through the heart of Appalachia, has become a quintessential "zombie highway," holding on long after economists dismissed its potential — thanks largely to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), who has earmarked $96 million for the project even as its chances of going beyond Kentucky dimmed to virtually nil. A sign […]

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