Matt Casale

Recent Posts

Allston Multimodal Project. Photo: Mass DOT

Highway Boondoggles 2020: Boston's Big Choice

By Matt Casale and Gideon Weissman | Jan 1, 2021 | No Comments

Unlike some other projects in this report, there is no escaping the need for major investment in transportation infrastructure in this section of Boston. The question is how.

A visualization of the proposed connector, via Youtube

Highway Boondoggles 2020: Southeast Connector, Texas

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 30, 2020 | No Comments

This $1.6-billion project would also use valuable state resources even as basic transit needs in Fort Worth go unmet.

Florida’s M-CORES highway project would threaten the habitat and the survival of the endangered Florida Panther. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Highway Boondoggles 2020: M-CORES, Florida

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 28, 2020 | No Comments

Despite $1 billion in budget cuts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida's 2020-21 budget still includes $90 million for this boondoggle, which could threaten the endangered Florida panther with extinction.

The I-526 Extension would connect to the James Island Expressway, above. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Highway Boondoggles 2020: I-526 Extension in S.C.

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 24, 2020 | No Comments

The I-526 extension would have minimal impact on travel times, saving drivers mere seconds at the expense of the region's protected wetlands.

Construction on the Birmingham Northern Beltline was forced to pause after initial funding ran out. Credit: Alabama Department of Transportation

Boondoggles: Birmingham's Northern Beltline

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 23, 2020 | No Comments

The $5.3-billion project is a 52-mile, six-lane expressway that's almost entirely reliant on intermittent and insufficient federal funding, and scheduled to take at least 40 years to complete.

The proposed interchange would be built in farmland near Peotone in Will County, Illinois. Credit: Ken Lund via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Highway Boondoggles 2020: The I-57 Interchange

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 21, 2020 | No Comments

Illinois officials have budgeted $206 million for a new interchange on I-57 that would take drivers onto a road through undeveloped farmland 44 miles south of Chicago in Will County, Illinois.

The Loop 1604/I-10 interchange would be five levels high. Credit: Texas Department of Transportation via Youtube

Highway Boondoggles 2020: Texas' Loop 1604

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 17, 2020 | No Comments

In this year’s installment of its annual Highway Boondoggles report, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group warn of billions of dollars in proposed spending on unnecessary highway projects that would divide our communities, deprive transit of scarce funds, and pollute our air and water. Below is the second of seven installments detailing these harmful projects. The Texas Department of Transportation […]

Cincinnati's Eastern Bypass boondoggle was proposed as a possible alternative to replacing the aging Brent Spence Bridge, above. Image: Landline via Creative Commons

2020 Boondoggles: Cincinnati Eastern Bypass

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 15, 2020 | No Comments

In this year’s installment of its annual Highway Boondoggles report, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group warn of billions of dollars in proposed spending on unnecessary highway projects that would divide our communities, deprive transit of scarce funds, and pollute our air and water. Below is the first of seven installments detailing these harmful projects. Ohio and Kentucky […]