Highway Expansion
Basics
A State DOT’s Unshakable Highway Fixation
The South Carolina Department of Transportation is sometimes still familiarly known as the "highway department." That was, in fact, the agency's proper title until 1977, when it was changed by order of the general assembly to the Department of Highways and Public Transportation.
February 10, 2011
In Charleston, an Affordable, Effective Alternative to Highway Expansion
Roads like Charleston's Savannah Highway are a common sight across America: a suburban arterial marked by high-speeds, dangerous pedestrian crossings and depressing aesthetics. A five-lane strip of asphalt surrounded by used car dealerships and motels, it's heavy on parking and curb cuts, light on crosswalks and trees. Like many streets of this type, Savannah Highway gets congested, particularly in a few key bottlenecks.
February 9, 2011
SGA: Transportation Funding Pays Big Dividends Only If Invested Wisely
In just the last month, several reports have quantified, in various ways, how investing in transportation infrastructure pays off in jobs and economic health. Now Smart Growth America is out with new research showing that it's not enough to plunk down a bunch of money and expect miracles. You've got to do it right.
February 7, 2011
Twin Cities Rein in Highway Expansions, Tame Runaway Transpo Spending
The Twin Cities region is reassessing the role of highways in its transportation system.
January 12, 2011
Mica Is Against “Paving Over America,” For “Cars in Shoulder Lanes”
I know I said I wasn't going to post during my vacation, but I thought you'd be interested in this new report from the FHWA, and, perhaps more notably, the Republican reaction to it. The agency just submitted a report to Congress on the use of highway shoulder lanes as traffic lanes. (It's not online, or we'd link to it.) Update: here it is. [PDF]
December 23, 2010
Will Georgia’s Next Governor ‘Unclog Atlanta’?
This is the final installment of our series on high-stakes governor's races. We hope you'll be watching along with us tonight as the results come in for the races we've followed in Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Texas, Maryland, Colorado, and Tennessee. Now, we turn to Georgia.
November 2, 2010
Texas Gov Rick Perry Could Get Four More Years to Build Mega-Highways
This is the fourth installment of Streetsblog Capitol Hill’s series on key governor’s races. Earlier we brought you stories about a candidate who likes bikes but isn’t sure about transit in Tennessee, the choice between light rail and bus rapid transit in Maryland, and how bike paranoia is cutting the GOP off at the knees in Colorado. Here we turn to Texas.
October 27, 2010
Fighting Freeways: War Stories From Portland
Rail~volution is underway in Portland, Oregon, bringing together more than 1,000 city planners, engineers, transit advocates, bike policy experts, and elected officials to strategize about making cities and towns better for transit, walking, and biking.
October 19, 2010
New Analysis: 59% of Road Stimulus Went to Repair, 33% to New Capacity
In the first year of the Obama administration's economic stimulus law, 59 percent of its $27 billion in transportation formula funds went to projects that preserve existing roads, while 33 percent was used to build new pavement, according to an analysis by the advocacy group Smart Growth America (SGA).
May 4, 2010
Is the ‘Road Gang’ Losing Power in Washington?
That is the thesis posited in a new investigation from the Center for Public Integrity, which sent a reporter to sprawl-saturated South Florida to examine how much of a return the transportation construction industry is getting on its multi-million-dollar contributions to congressional campaigns.
April 29, 2010