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Freeway Widenings

How to Debunk the ‘Need’ for Destructive Road Widenings

Transportation agencies have a thousand reasons why they need "just one more lane, bro." Here's how to spot their distortions and lies and call them out.

August 12, 2024

Advocates Share What It Takes to Fight Highway Expansions in Court 

What does it take to sue your state DOT? Time, money, the right partners, and a little creativity, a recent survey of activists found.

July 19, 2024

‘A Petition, a Website, and a T-shirt’: Ann Arbor Advocates Share Tips for Fighting Highway Expansions

Ann Arbor advocates helped get a destructive and wasteful highway expansion thrown out — and they have some ideas on how you can, too.

June 10, 2024

How to Fight a Texas-Sized Freeway Battle

A new book explores how Texas advocates are fighting back against destructive highway expansions. But what happened to those projects since it was sent to the printer?

May 7, 2024

Highway Expansion Project Not Approved by California Transportation Commission

Adding another lane won't reduce congestion, yet Caltrans keeps doing it, and the CTC usually approves the money for it. There's too little discussion of alternatives.ornia Transportation Commission.

December 14, 2023

I Lost My Job at Caltrans for Speaking Out Against Highway Widening

My concerns were repeatedly brushed off by my bosses, who seemed more concerned about getting the next widening project underway than following the law.

November 3, 2023

California Transportation Commission Chair: “Widen Freeways for the People”

Every dollar spent on widening highways right now is a dollar not spent on better, cleaner, safer, and more sustainable alternatives. It is also a dollar that will require future dollars to be spent in order to maintain what it is building today. Widening highways now is a way to keep the status quo in place for years into the future, when we need to change that status quo.

October 24, 2023

California Has to Stop Building Freeways. Now.

"People aren't used to thinking of freeways as fossil fuel infrastructure, but they are." And once built, there's no going back, no making up for the extra driving by trying to convince people that a bus or train might be a better choice - we're stuck with it.

September 26, 2023

Why Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled Matters

“Our job now is to prioritize solutions that mitigate the impacts of climate change while equitably improving quality of life. To do so we need to rethink how we build so Californians can drive less."

September 22, 2023