Highway Expansion
Basics
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
Detroit Has a $2 Billion Vacancy Crisis But the Region Still Splurges on Roads
On Tuesday, the results of a federal report on Detroit's vacancy crisis made jaws drop: The pricetag for tearing down and cleaning up the city's abandoned properties would be $1.85 billion, the report found.
May 29, 2014
Wisconsin’s Outdated Transportation Priorities Are Alienating Young People
Over-spending on roads is a bad idea for any state DOT. But it’s an especially bad idea if that state needs to retain more young people who don't want to be shackled to cars.
May 21, 2014
Wisconsin Responds to Public, Dumps Absurdly Wasteful Highway Project
"It is difficult to find any merit in the project at all."
April 21, 2014
Denver Auditor Blasts Plan to Widen I-70: “Ten Lanes Is Not an Option”
“Ten lanes is not an option. A doubling of the current width of I-70 through Denver is not acceptable.”
April 7, 2014