Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Highway Expansion

Obama Administration Touts Nation’s First All-Electronic Toll Road in N.C.

By Elana Schor | Aug 13, 2009 | 2 Comments

The U.S. DOT dispatched Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez to North Carolina yesterday to kick off construction of the $1 billion Triangle Expressway, the state’s first toll road and the nation’s first to use per-mile electronic tolling. The scene at yesterday’s N.C. toll road groundbreaking. (Photo: WRAL) The highway was financed by a package of […]

PBS NewsHour Takes on Alabama’s “Zombie Highway”

By Elana Schor | Aug 6, 2009 | No Comments

A stretch of the Birmingham highway that would eventually link up with the Northern Beltline. (Photo: WNET.org) UPDATE: Blueprint America’s segment has been rescheduled due to breaking news, and will now air on two nights starting Monday, August 10. What is a "zombie highway"? Exactly what the name suggests: a road that won’t die, swallowing […]

Letting Highway Trust Fund Earn Interest: How Much Would it Help?

By Elana Schor | Aug 3, 2009 | 3 Comments

The Senate released a proposed $26.8 billion patch to the nation’s highway trust fund two weeks ago that included a long-sought priority of transportation policy-makers: restoring the fund’s ability to keep the interest it accrues on unspent balances. But the deal left open the question of how much that fix would benefit lawmakers as they […]

Road Stimulus Money: Half Spent on Repaving, 17% on Widening

By Elana Schor | Jul 31, 2009 | No Comments

The $787 billion economic stimulus law provided $27 billion for roads and bridges. But is the money going to shore up aging infrastructure or to add new highway lanes? Nonpartisan auditors at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined the question during a House transportation committee hearing today. And as the Associated Press reports in the […]

Maryland County Foolishly Seeking Congestion Relief in New Lanes

By Ryan Avent | Jul 30, 2009 | No Comments

One would not normally describe Montgomery County, Maryland as a place with retrograde views on land-use and planning issues. Maryland’s I-270, at peak congestion. (Photo: MDOT) The county adopted a Transferable Development Rights program 30 years ago to protect copious acres of rural land from the relentless growth pressures of the Washington metro area. It […]

McCain & Coburn: Let’s Make Roads Safer — by Slashing Safety Money

By Elana Schor | Jul 30, 2009 | 1 Comment

A report released today [PDF] by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), timed to coincide with debate on a $7 billion highway trust fund fix, accuses their fellow lawmakers of "raiding" the fund for transportation "pet projects." Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) (Photo: City-Data.com) What wasteful projects have drawn such scorn from the duo? […]

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