Highway Widening

Attacking Auto-Dependency by Attacking Auto Subsidies

It's not the car but the driving subsidy that is responsible for many of the ills associated with auto dominance. Asking, "How do we get people out of cars?" is the wrong question, argues Joe Cortright, urban economist for City Observatory.

July 22, 2018 - City Observatory

Dallas Highways

Induced Demand: Why Highways Still Reign in Dallas

Regional planners and Dallas officials aren't confident that the area's highway-centric worldview (and budget) will change anytime soon. The city's competitiveness in the national job market may be on the line.

July 7, 2018 - D Magazine

Freewways

Nine Highway Expansions Identified as Worst Boondoggles of 2018

In a new report, U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group describe nine costly highway projects amounting to $30 billion in their fourth annual "Highway Boondoggles" report. All share the theme of induced travel demand.

July 2, 2018 - Frontier Group

Maryland Highway Plan Would Destroy Affordable Housing, Displace Low-Income Residents

A local writer compares the plan to expand I-270 and the Capital Beltway to an earlier era of transportation planning.

June 24, 2018 - Greater Greater Washington

$90 Million in Federal Grants Will Widen Highways in Colorado

The U.S. Department of Transportation is investing in Colorado's highways.

June 8, 2018 - The Denver Post

Davis and Sacramento

Widening I-80 from Davis to Sacramento: HOT Lane or HOV Lane?

Caltrans is studying a plan to widen 16 miles of Interstate 80 through Solano and Yolo counties, over the Yolo Bypass. Initially, the plan called for a carpool lane, but uncertainty about funding makes a toll lane a possibility.

June 5, 2018 - The Sacramento Bee

Caffeine

If Traffic Costs Americans Billions, What About Waiting for Coffee?

The folks over at City Observatory brew up a "Cappuccino Congestion Index" to show that anything can be shown to cost Americans vast sums of money.

April 20, 2018 - City Observatory

Willamette River

Study: Wider Highways Won't Reduce Congestion

Widening highways won't reduce congestion—that's the conclusion of a report paid for by the state agency proposing several highway widening projects in Oregon.

March 13, 2018 - The Portland Mercury

Indiana Freeways

State Plan to Expand a Downtown Indianapolis Intersection Meets Local Resistance

Local urbanists are opposing a plan to greatly expand a freeway intersection in neighborhoods adjacent to Downtown Indianapolis.

February 1, 2018 - Indianapolis Business Journal

Widening, Toll Lane Project Moves Forward in Colorado

A proposed project that would widen and add toll lanes to a section of the I-25 freeway between Colorado Springs and Denver has received a key chunk of funding.

January 6, 2018 - The Gazette

Shenzhen, China

Foxconn Wanted an Autonomous Vehicle Lane to Locate in Wisconsin

News of the details of the negotiation between Taiwan-based Foxconn and the state of Wisconsin have revealed ideas about transportation planning that are either ambitious or delusional, depending on your opinion.

November 21, 2017 - Biz Times

Colorado Voters OK New Toll Lanes on Interstate 25 by Passing Two Measures

Colorado Springs and El Paso County voters agreed to add the highway widening to a list of projects that a regional transportation authority can fund. They passed an additional funding measure enabling county funds to be spent rather than refunded.

November 9, 2017 - The Gazette

Intersection

Confronting Wisconsin's $1.1 Billion Highway Widening Proposal

A coalition of environmentalists, civil rights activists, and other community interests teamed up to successfully oppose a Milwaukee highway widening proposal. In an interview, one of the leading lawyers discusses his work.

October 23, 2017 - Streetsblog USA

I-94

Wisconsin's $1.1 Billion Highway Widening Project on the Ropes

The proposed widening of I-94 in Milwaukee is a $1.1 billion chunk of a $6.4 billion road widening program in the region. The NAACP sued the project as a matter of environmental justice.

October 5, 2017 - Wisconsin Gazette

Maryland's $9 Billion Project Would Be the Nation's Largest P3 for Highways

Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.) announced last week plans for the largest highway contract awarded to a public-private partnership: adding four express toll lanes to the Capital Beltway and I-270. A third highway widening will be completed internally.

September 29, 2017 - Planetizen

Rockville Pike

Governor Larry Hogan's $9 Billion Highway Plan Critiqued

Governor Larry Hogan's $9 Billion Highway Plan Critiqued

September 23, 2017 - Streetsblog USA

Mt. Hood and Traffic

Op-Ed: What Oregon's DOT Gets Wrong on Roadway Safety

Faced with an uptick in roadway fatalities, Oregon is looking at how to increase safety. But it's concentrating on highways while arterials actually account for the region's most severe crashes.

September 8, 2017 - City Observatory

Inland Empire

Is the Era of the 'Free' Freeway Coming to an End?

No one's suggesting that freeways will be converted to tollways, but a pattern is emerging that when freeways are widened, express lanes, financed in part by user fees, are being added rather than mixed-flow lanes. Case in point: the Inland Empire.

August 18, 2017 - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Denver Cap Park

I-70 Highway Update May Exacerbate Segregation

A piece in The Nation argues a Denver highway plan will further shrink the black community in that city through the use of eminent domain.

August 9, 2017 - The Nation

User Fees and Sales Tax Dollars Finance $1.9 Billion Four-Lane Freeway Widening

A 16-mile express lane and general purpose lane will be added in each direction of the San Diego Freeway in Orange County. A $629 million TIFIA loan will be repaid by toll-paying motorists, while all taxpayers pay most of the remainder.

August 5, 2017 - Daily Pilot (Los Angeles Times)

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