Friday’s Headlines Ease Into the Weekend
It'd be great to jump on a fast train to the beach for Memorial Day, but there are a lot of reasons that's unlikely anytime soon.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on May 26, 2023
- Forget Infrastructure Week — this is the Infrastructure Decade. But worker shortages, inflation and political divisions could hamper cities and states’ ability to take advantage of an influx of federal funding and private capital. (Smart Cities Dive)
- The Biden administration’s “Buy American” policy on infrastructure could kill high-speed rail in the U.S. because the rail cars are only manufactured overseas. (E&E News)
- The Baltimore suburb of Howard County, Maryland, has the best complete streets policy in the country, according to Smart Growth America. (Governing)
- About 30,000 people are expected to ride Austin’s planned light rail line each day. (KXAN)
- The Connecticut House passed a bill allowing communities to install red-light and speeding cameras. (CT Examiner)
- Portland reached a settlement with disabled residents in a lawsuit over camps blocking sidewalks. (Willamette Week)
- Denver has installed 137 miles of bike and scooter lanes, surpassing Mayor Michael Hancock’s 2018 goal of 125 miles. (CBS News)
- Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is launching a “safety surge” to install speed humps, redesign intersections and upgrade traffic signals citywide. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Ferguson, Missouri police are cracking down on drivers with expired temp tags (Fox 2 Now) — a topic Streetsblog has covered in depth. The police chief even stole our hashtag, #TempTagTuesday!
- E-scooters will return to Dallas streets next week for the first time since city officials removed them in 2020. (Axios)
- Seattle’s Sound Transit is testing a new system for real-time light rail arrival information. (The Urbanist)
- Minnesota is the latest state to legalize the Idaho stop. (Bring Me the News)
- A former Washington, D.C. streetcar line is now a little-known footpath through some beautiful scenery. (Axios)
- Boston introduced pop-up digital libraries at 20 bus stops. (CNN)
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
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