Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Highway Expansion

Texas Sprawl Builders Funneled Taxpayer $ to Highway That Enriched Them

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 2, 2011 | No Comments

If the U.S. had a national transportation policy, this story of corruption and waste never would have happened. But an enduring feature of the current policy predicament is that once federal funding is in the hands of state DOTs, they more or less have a blank check, and the merit of any given transportation project […]

Will Cuomo Scrap Transit on the Tappan Zee and Just Widen the Highway?

By Noah Kazis | Oct 11, 2011 | 9 Comments

For nine years, the state of New York has been studying how to replace the aging Tappan Zee Bridge. The bridge, which is more than 50 years old, requires ever more expensive repairs to stay structurally sound and was never intended to carry the volume of traffic that pours over it every day. Since 2002, […]

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Missouri, Welcome to the Era of the Broke State DOT

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 7, 2011 | No Comments

Word went out in a press release early last month: The Missouri Department of Transportation would be eliminating 1,200 jobs, closing 135 facilities and selling 740 pieces of equipment. “This is about survival,” said MoDOT spokesman Jorma Duran. “This is about making sure our roads and bridges continue to be maintained and operable.” Drastic times […]

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Study: Building Roads to Cure Congestion Is an Exercise in Futility

By Tanya Snyder | May 31, 2011 | No Comments

We hear it all the time: The road lobby insists that the only way to reduce mind-numbing traffic congestion on the roads they built is to build new roads. Federal funding gives huge blank checks to state DOTs, which tend to prioritize road building over transit, bridge maintenance or anything else. But mounting evidence suggests […]

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Mayors Rebel Against State-Controlled Highway Expansion, Fight For Transit

By Tanya Snyder | May 3, 2011 | No Comments

If your roads are congested, your bus lines are getting cut, and money is flowing to brand-new roads to nowhere, don’t blame your mayor. Chances are, he or she is as mad about it as you are. Mayors are speaking out against ineffective transportation funding mechanisms that direct scarce resources to sprawling highways and away […]

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Paradigm Shift in Charleston: County Leaders Reject Highway Expansion

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 18, 2011 | No Comments

Chalk this up as a major victory in the livable streets movement: Thanks to a heroic effort by advocates for smart growth and rural preservation, officials in Charleston, South Carolina have unanimously rejected a plan for a half-billion-dollar highway expansion. In an 8-0 decision late last week, Charleston County officials voted against an eight-mile highway […]

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