Highway Expansion
Basics
In Dallas, You Can Get a “Sustainability” Grant to Widen a Road
Some folks on Twitter have been having a laugh about these PowerPoint slides from the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
August 5, 2014
Will Missouri Voters Go Along With the Highway Lobby’s Money Grab?
Next week, Missouri voters will decide on Amendment 7 -- a three-quarter-cent sales tax hike to pay for transportation projects that would be the largest tax increase in the state's history. Construction industry groups have poured millions into convincing Missourians to pay $5.4 billion over the next 10 years. Will they bite?
July 30, 2014
Building Cloverleafs Won’t Inspire Americans to Pay More for Transportation
The federal transportation fund is running out of money, threatening the country with potholes, stopped construction, and economic downturn. Congress, which has kept the program solvent with short-term patches for years, now finds itself unable to do more than buy a few months’ time.
July 23, 2014
Moving Cars vs. Investing in Places — The Struggle for American Cities
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker and Mayor Tom Barrett are brawling in the press over a proposed highway project -- a fight that exemplifies the enormous rift in America about what transportation policy should accomplish.
July 9, 2014
8 Monster Interchanges That Blight American Cities
Ramming highways through the middle of American cities was undoubtedly one of the worst mistakes of the 20th century -- demolishing urban habitat, dividing neighborhoods, and erecting structures that suck the life out of places. What could be worse than a highway through the middle of town? How about when two highways intersect, with all their assorted high-speed ramps carving out huge chunks of land to move cars.
July 1, 2014
7 Photos Show How Detroit Hollowed Out During the Highway Age
While searching for images of highway interchanges in urban areas, I came across these historic aerial photos of Detroit on a message board, showing how the city fabric has slowly eroded. It's a remarkable record of a process that has scarred many other American cities.
June 24, 2014
Freeway Fight: Scott Walker Wants to Drag Milwaukee Back to 1956
The mayor and residents of Milwaukee are fighting a massive urban highway project backed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
June 20, 2014
Milwaukee Protesters Try to Halt Double-Decker Freeway
Monday night, as the Wisconsin DOT went through the motions of a Power Point presentation about the latest highway expansion it wants to gouge through Milwaukee, a groups of protesters outside the meeting shouted their frustration with an agency that has spent lavishly on roads to the exclusion of all other modes.
June 18, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings In the Metro
The metro is coming to Loudon County, Virginia. Eventually.
June 13, 2014
Study: Corrupt States Spend More on Highways
A new academic study helps explain the enduring political popularity of expensive transportation boondoggles like Birmingham's $4.7 billion Northern Beltline and Kentucky's $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges.
June 6, 2014