Boondoggles
Basics
Exploding Costs Could Doom One of America’s Greatest Highway Boondoggles
The Interstate Bridge Replacement Project and highway expansion between Oregon and Washington was already a boondoggle. Then the costs ballooned to $17.7 billion.
January 8, 2026
Oregon Highway Expansion Facing Second Lawsuit for ‘Cumulative Impacts’
The Beaver State Department of Transportation doubly violated federal law, a new lawsuit charges.
August 16, 2024
Boondoggle: Oregon Highway Widening Gets ‘Reconnecting Communities’ Cash
The US Department of Transportation just awarded $450 million to the $1.9-billion Rose Quarter 1-5 project, which opponents have long called one of America’s most-notorious highway boondoggles.
April 8, 2024
Freeway Fighters: ‘Stop the Highway-Expansion Madness,’ New Coalition Demands
"Endless highway expansions are pulling our country into an environmental, budgetary, and public health crisis," the letter states.
February 6, 2024
Highway Boondoggles 2023: This Bridge is a Bridge Too Far
Presented by local transportation authorities as a simple bridge replacement, an expensive, oversized highway expansion threatens to worsen congestion in Vancouver and Portland
November 27, 2023
Highway Boondoggles 2023: Salt Lake Shenanigans
Plans for a major freeway expansion based on over-inflated traffic projections are a wrongheaded way to deal with the region’s rapid population growth.
November 22, 2023
Highway Boondoggles 2023: The Pain in Maine Falls Mainly in … Gorham
Here's a self-defeating new highway that will merely exacerbate suburban sprawl — reinforcing the very conditions that are causing the traffic problems in the first place!
November 16, 2023
Opinion: Stop Expanding the Damn Roads in Michigan
The recent announcement of a $105-million grant to remove I-375 in Detroit is welcome news. But it also raises the question of whether our broader road spending is leading to a future we want.
October 28, 2022
Highway Boondoggles, Part I: Maryland’s Misguided Highway Extension
Here's the first installment of this year's "Highway Boondoggles" series — we'll start in Montgomery County, Maryland.
September 13, 2022
How the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Could Fast-Track Harmful Highway Boondoggles
Federal funding could be spent on fixing our aging roads, making our streets safer, and making it easier to travel on transit, by bike or on foot, giving Americans real options for getting around without a car. But it will more likely be spent on expanding highways.
September 12, 2022
