Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Boondoggles

Texas Highway Boondoggle Dealt Blow by Feds

By Kea Wilson | Mar 12, 2021 | No Comments

One of Texas's most-notorious highway expansion projects is being put on pause, thanks to a U.S. Department of Transportation that's newly committed to mitigating the racist impacts of federally funded transportation projects.

Allston Multimodal Project. Photo: Mass DOT

Highway Boondoggles 2020: Boston's Big Choice

By Matt Casale and Gideon Weissman | Jan 1, 2021 | No Comments

Unlike some other projects in this report, there is no escaping the need for major investment in transportation infrastructure in this section of Boston. The question is how.

A visualization of the proposed connector, via Youtube

Highway Boondoggles 2020: Southeast Connector, Texas

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 30, 2020 | No Comments

This $1.6-billion project would also use valuable state resources even as basic transit needs in Fort Worth go unmet.

Florida’s M-CORES highway project would threaten the habitat and the survival of the endangered Florida Panther. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Highway Boondoggles 2020: M-CORES, Florida

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 28, 2020 | No Comments

Despite $1 billion in budget cuts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida's 2020-21 budget still includes $90 million for this boondoggle, which could threaten the endangered Florida panther with extinction.

The I-526 Extension would connect to the James Island Expressway, above. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Highway Boondoggles 2020: I-526 Extension in S.C.

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 24, 2020 | No Comments

The I-526 extension would have minimal impact on travel times, saving drivers mere seconds at the expense of the region's protected wetlands.

Construction on the Birmingham Northern Beltline was forced to pause after initial funding ran out. Credit: Alabama Department of Transportation

Boondoggles: Birmingham's Northern Beltline

By Gideon Weissman and Matt Casale | Dec 23, 2020 | No Comments

The $5.3-billion project is a 52-mile, six-lane expressway that's almost entirely reliant on intermittent and insufficient federal funding, and scheduled to take at least 40 years to complete.

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