Highway Expansion

Car Culture

If You Build It, Cars Will Come: the Common-Sense Logic of 'Induced Demand'

Highway expansion has been shown, time and again, to increase traffic and congestion. Cities are finally getting the message.

May 14, 2021 - Governing

Asphalt Road

Opinion: Washington State Should Stop Funding Freeways

The Urbanist's editorial board calls for an end to highway widening and an increased focus on walking, biking, and transit.

March 30, 2021 - The Urbanist

I-94 North-South Project

Opinion: Proposed I-94 Expansion a 'Fiasco' for Milwaukee

An opinion piece published by Urban Milwaukee argues against a proposed expansion of three miles of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee.

November 22, 2020 - Urban Milwaukee

I-94 North-South Project

New Governor, Same Billion Dollar Freeway Expansion Plan

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is picking up a plan previously championed and abandoned by former Gov. Scott Walker: The North-South expansion of I-94 west of Milwaukee.

July 13, 2020 - Wisconsin Public Radio

R.H. Thomson Expressway

'Ramps to Nowhere' Will Come Down in Seattle as New Debates Heat Up

The history of Seattle's opposition to car infrastructure is being commemorated while it's being made.

May 20, 2020 - Crosscut

Highway Expansion Project Damages Flood Control Systems in Cincinnati

The Ohio Department of Transportation has prioritize the expansion of Interstate 71 in the neighborhood of Madisonville, in Cincinnati, over flood protection for property owners in the city, according to a recent city memo.

January 3, 2020 - Cincinnati Business Courier

Interstate 285 Interchange

Georgia's $11 Billion Road-Building Program Evolves

Recently announced changes to a massive road-building program in Georgia will shift moves projects aimed at improvements for the trucking industry earlier onto the calendar, while pushing back projects located closer to Atlanta.

October 15, 2019 - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Denver, Colorado

Plans to Expand I-25 Through Denver

Colorado transportation officials are making plans for a major overhaul of a five-mile stretch of Interstate 25, one of Colorado’s busiest highway corridors.

October 1, 2019 - The Denver Post

New Highways

Kentucky Planning a New Freeway Around Louisville, Raising Alarms

Local news sources are shedding light on planning for a new highway route that could pass through sensitive habitat of endangered that has yet to undertake a formal environmental or public input process.

July 11, 2019 - WFPL

Marquam Bridge

The Biggest Highway Boondoggles in the United States

Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG have released the fifth edition of its Highway Boondoggles report.

June 18, 2019 - U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Georgia DOT Takes $4.6 Billion Highway Expansion Plan on the Road

The Georgia Department of Transportation held a series of public meetings this month to reveal details of a plan to add toll lanes to I-285 and Georgia 400 outside Atlanta.

May 30, 2019 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fracking

Michigan Gov. Whitmer Proposes 45-Cent Gas Tax Hike in First Budget

Gretchen Whitmer has outdone the new Democratic governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, who proposed a 20 cents tax hike. Like Walz's budget, gas tax revenue would replace some general funds directed to road spending, thus benefiting other state programs.

March 21, 2019 - Detroit Free Press

Aerial photo of the US 131/M-6/68th St. interchange in Wyoming, MIchigan

Where Gas Taxes Only Serve the Needs of More Sprawl

The gas tax, suburban highway spending cycle is both self-serving and self-destructive, according to this article.

March 14, 2019 - Streetsblog USA

Highway Expansion project

Miami-Dade Wants to Add 13 Miles to the Dolphin Expressway

The extended tollway would cut beyond the Urban Growth Boundary into the Everglades.

October 2, 2018 - Curbed Miami

Freeway Construction

Toll and Tax, or Just Tax, to Pay for Highway Expansion?

A political decision by the Texas Transportation Commission last December to drop projects which included toll lanes was thought to doom 15 road expansions from their 10-year capital plan, but some will go forward with HOV as opposed to HOT lanes.

August 31, 2018 - Austin American-Statesman

Toronto Freeway

Highway Expansion Proposal Stirs Debate in Toronto

A pro-business group in Toronto wants to expand a highway, but a Toronto columnist wants to make readers aware of why the plan might not work out as hoped.

July 9, 2018 - The Star

Interstate 30, Tom Landry Freeway

Highway Expansion Could Be Calamitous for Dallas' City Center

After a 2016 Texas Department of Transportation plan put forward a vision for a more walkable and dense city, TxDOT is still looking to expand I-30, a project that contradicts many of the forward-thinking ideas in that plan.

May 23, 2018 - D Magazine

Delay Sign

Op-Ed: 'Public Mood' Has Turned Against Cars in Cities

A survey of recent planning decisions demonstrates that cities are no longer necessarily looking to more and bigger highways to solve their traffic problems.

May 4, 2018 - The New York Times

Spaghetti Junction

Louisville's Infamous Spaghetti Junction to Get Safety Review

Three tractor trailers overturned in less than a month while navigating Spaghetti Junction in Louisville—the maze of twisting ramps and interchanges that sparked viral notoriety at the end of 2016.

August 20, 2017 - WDRB

Denver Cap Park

I-70 Expansion in Denver Still Facing Scrutiny

A planned expansion of Interstate 70 through Denver might have federal approval, but a growing coalition of local groups and state political leaders are pushing back on the idea.

May 18, 2017 - The Denver Post

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

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A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.