Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Highway Expansion

The Columbia River Crossing: A Highway Boondoggle in Disguise

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 14, 2011 | No Comments

The Columbia River Crossing is a mega-project by any standard. A bridge replacement, a highway widening, and light rail project wrapped into one, the CRC is a proposal to span the distance between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. With a $3.2 billion price tag — by conservative estimates — it would be the largest public […]

In Charleston, an Affordable, Effective Alternative to Highway Expansion

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 9, 2011 | 2 Comments

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 […]

Bragdon: PlaNYC 2.0 Cheaper, Bottom-Up, But May Include Hudson Tunnel

By Noah Kazis | Feb 3, 2011 | 2 Comments

City sustainability chief David Bragdon offered some more hints about what to expect from April’s update of PlaNYC this morning. Speaking at a livability conference hosted by NYU’s Rudin Center, Bragdon said that the update would eschew large capital projects and feature a larger role for neighborhoods and individuals. In terms of transportation, Bragdon seemed […]

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Twin Cities Rein in Highway Expansions, Tame Runaway Transpo Spending

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 12, 2011 | No Comments

The Twin Cities region is reassessing the role of highways in its transportation system. Like many communities throughout the country, Minneapolis-St. Paul is moving beyond the decades-old assumption that the only way to eliminate congestion is with more outward-stretching asphalt. This fall, officials in the Twin Cities voted to roll back highway expansions and increase […]

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Actually, Highway Builders, Roads Don’t Pay For Themselves

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 4, 2011 | No Comments

You’ve heard it a thousand times from the highway lobby: Roads pay for themselves through “user fees” — a.k.a. gas taxes and tolls — whereas transit is a drain on the taxpayer. They use this argument to push for new roads, instead of transit, as fiscally prudent investments. The myth of the self-financed road meets […]

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New Freeway Revolt Grips Guadalajara

By Chris Carlsson | Dec 6, 2010 | No Comments

While the world has gathered in Cancun, Mexico, to discuss again a shared approach to Climate Chaos, action is already being taken in countless communities. On a visit last week to Guadalajara, Mexico, more than a thousand miles west of the Climate Meeting, I had the pleasure of discovering a vibrant grassroots movement to block […]

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