Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Highway Repair

The North Houston Highway Improvement Project will expand already vast swaths of highway
through the middle of Houston, displacing homes and businesses and dividing communities.
Image: Texas Dept. of Transportation

Boondoggles: Nine Projects That Should Not Happen

By Gideon Weissman and Matthew Casale | Jun 18, 2019 | 10 Comments

Here's the thing with highway expansion projects: They're big. They're expensive. And they have limited benefit. Our friends at US PIRG present their annual report.

An aerial view of Louisville's $2.3 billion Ohio River Bridges Project. Photo: Ohio River Bridges Project via Broken Sidewalk

The Real Reason Roads Are In Bad Shape

By Angie Schmitt | May 15, 2019 | 7 Comments

States don't lack money for road maintenance. They just spend it on expensive new projects — ribbon cuttings! — instead.

Providence's "City Walk" on-street biking and walking trails are one of the projects targeted for cuts by Rhode Island DOT. Photo: City of Providence

R.I. Takes Biking/Walking Funds for Highways

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 31, 2019 | 8 Comments

Almost one dozen biking and walking projects across the state of Rhode Island are in jeopardy after a state agency decided to transfer $27 million in federal money dedicated to active transportation to highways and administrative expenses over the next 10 years.

Why a Broke State DOT Could Be Great for Missouri

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 22, 2015 | 5 Comments

In August, Missouri voters roundly defeated a sales tax increase supported by road building interests that would have dramatically boosted funding for the state DOT. During the run-up to the election, state leaders laid it on thick in their appeal for more road money, arguing that the fallout would be disastrous for public safety if […]

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. […]

I-5 Bridge Collapse: A Painful Reminder of the Nation’s Misguided Priorities

By Tanya Snyder | May 24, 2013 | 8 Comments

In a searing reminder that the nation has to do a better job of keeping its infrastructure in safe working condition, the I-5 bridge between Burlington and Mt. Vernon, Washington, collapsed last night. Thankfully, no one was killed, and the three people whose vehicles fell into the water were hospitalized with only minor injuries. Interstate-5 […]

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