Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Washington state

The current Columbia River Bridge is slated to be replaced with one that has room for light rail. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Two Big Reasons States Keep Expanding Freeways

By Joe Cortright | Apr 22, 2022 | No Comments

Highway widening advocates offer up a kind of manifest destiny storyline: population and traffic are ever-increasing, and unless we accommodate them we’ll be awash in cars, traffic and gridlock. The rising tide of cars is treated as a irresistible force of nature. But is it?

A woman holds a Just Transition Now sign at a rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Image: Lorie Shaull, CC

Does America Need a ‘Mobility Bill of Rights’?

By Kea Wilson | Feb 7, 2022 | No Comments

And more important: what should be included in it?

Image description: An African American woman wearing a pink sundress walks along a rural road using a white cane. Via Disability Mobility Initiative

*Note on Image Descriptions: The authors of the report from which these images are sourced asked their interviewees to describe themselves and anything they wanted
to include about their identities for the Image Descriptions. If they chose not to provide us a description,
the authors described what they saw in the image the interviewees shared for accessibility purposes.

We Can't Ignore Non-Drivers With Disabilities

By Kea Wilson | Aug 30, 2021 | No Comments

People with disabilities who don't drive are being left behind by accessibility efforts that ignore their unique and diverse needs — and centering them in city-building efforts can carry benefits for everyone, a new study argues.

Report: Stoned Driving is a Problem

By Kea Wilson | Jun 22, 2021 | No Comments

Car crashes rose in Western states after the legalization of pot, a pair of new studies finds — but increasing access to transit may be the only sure-fire way to rein in stoned driving, especially without increasing police harassment of people of color.

Disability rights advocates at the bus stop. Photo: Disability Mobility Initiative

BIPOC and Disability Advocates Zero In on Highway Spending

By Natalie Bicknell | Mar 26, 2021 | No Comments

Reprinted with permission from “The Urbanist.” On March 9, advocacy organizations Front and Centered and Disability Rights Washington held the first of a series of press conferences calling for Washington State legislators to halt spending on new highways. Instead, the coalition urges lawmakers to prioritize investments in building missing sidewalks and creating reliable transit and paratransit systems to serve all […]

I-5 is wide concrete chasm between Wallingford and the U District, as seen from 45th St bridge. (Photo by author)

Road Widening Myths That Are Delaying Climate Action

By Doug Trumm and Gregory Quetin | Dec 29, 2020 | No Comments

These convenient excuses help your transportation department justify widening and adding highways – but they’re dead wrong.

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