Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Highway Expansion

Anthony Foxx Wants to Repair the Damage Done By Urban Highways

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 30, 2016 | No Comments

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is offering a surprisingly honest appraisal of America’s history of road construction this week, with a high-profile speaking tour that focuses on the damage that highways caused in black urban neighborhoods. Growing up in Charlotte, Foxx’s own street was walled in by highways, he recalled in a speech today at the Center for American Progress. Building big, grade-separated roads through […]

With Widening of I-75, Michigan DOT Will Deliver Another Blow to Detroit

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 26, 2016 | No Comments

The city of Detroit lost a stunning 25 percent of its population between 2000 and 2010. Even as the city struggles heroically to repair the damage, the Michigan state government is undermining Detroit’s fragile recovery. Leave it to Michigan DOT to come in and make Detroit’s problems worse. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the state DOT […]

Sober Non-Partisan Analysis: America Wastes a Ton of Money on Highways

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 23, 2016 | No Comments

A good deal of the $46 billion the federal government pours into highway spending each year is going to waste, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report [PDF]. The conclusion won’t surprise regular Streetsblog readers, but it’s the source that’s interesting. The CBO is not an advocacy group or an ideologically-minded think tank. It’s a non-partisan budget watchdog charged […]

Highway Boondoggles: Ohio DOT’s $1.2 Billion Portsmouth Bypass

By Jeff Inglis and John Olivieri | Feb 3, 2016 | No Comments

In a new report, Highway Boondoggles 2, U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group profile the most wasteful highway projects that state DOTs are building. Today we highlight Ohio DOT’s $1.2 billion Portsmouth Bypass, the most expensive and, arguably, least-needed transportation project in the state’s history. A major highway project that scored near the bottom of the […]

Houston Mayor Calls for “Paradigm Shift” Away From Highway Widening

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 29, 2016 | No Comments

Newly elected Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner gave a remarkable speech yesterday in Austin [PDF], calling on the state to change its transportation priorities and stop pouring billions into widening highways. Turner told the Texas Transportation Commission, the appointed board that leads Texas DOT, that the state needs a totally new transportation paradigm. The speech is phenomenal, and […]

Caption Contest: TxDOT’s Shiny Happy People Sucking in Highway Exhaust

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 22, 2016 | No Comments

This rendering of State Highway 45 Southwest in Austin — one of 12 highway boondoggles singled out by U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group this year — inspired some mockery on Twitter: @StreetsblogNet @StreetsblogUSA @uspirg “Hey mom, I’m going to go ride bikes in the ditch!” — Andy Howard (@ahow628) January 21, 2016 @StreetsblogNet @uspirg “Just […]

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