Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Highway Expansion

Highway Boondoggles: Widening I-95 Across Connecticut

By Jeff Inglis and John Olivieri | Jan 19, 2016 | No Comments

Last year Congress passed a multi-year transportation bill. Like previous bills, it gives tens of billions of dollars to states every year to spend with almost no strings attached. How much of this federal funding will state DOTs devote to expensive, traffic-inducing highway projects that further entrench car dependence and sprawl? In a new report, Highway Boondoggles 2 (the […]

It’s Time to Stop Pretending That Roads Pay for Themselves

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 25, 2015 | No Comments

If nothing else, the current round of federal transportation legislating should end the myth that highways are a uniquely self-sufficient form of infrastructure paid for by “user fees,” a.k.a. gas taxes and tolls. With all the general tax revenue that goes toward roads in America, car infrastructure has benefited from hefty subsidies for many years. […]

Will Texas Voters Enshrine Failed Transpo Policy in the State’s Constitution?

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 20, 2015 | No Comments

When Texas voters go to the polls this November they will decide an issue of enormous consequence to the future of the state. A proposed amendment to the state constitution — on the ballot as Proposition 7 — would shift about $2.5 billion in sales tax revenues to highway spending each year. All the money must be spent […]

Do Environmental Reviews for Road Projects Help the Environment?

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 19, 2015 | No Comments

It’s been more than 40 years since the National Environmental Policy Act was enacted. In that time, America has built a lot of emissions-inducing, land-devouring highway infrastructure despite the environmental review process mandated by NEPA. It’s fair to ask: When it comes to transportation infrastructure, does environmental review make a difference for the environment? To comply with federal environmental […]

3 White Elephants That Help Explain America’s Infrastructure Crisis

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 30, 2015 | No Comments

A new report by the Center for American Progress zeros in on an under-appreciated culprit in America’s much ballyhooed infrastructure crisis: All the money we waste on useless roads. CAP highlights three “white elephant projects” that illustrate how billions of dollars in federal infrastructure funds are squandered thanks to a lack of accountability in the transportation funding process. “States receive federal […]

Scott Walker’s Own Party Rejects His Milwaukee Highway Boondoggle

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 6, 2015 | No Comments

Governor Scott Walker might be too busy campaigning for president to care, but the Wisconsin legislature handed him a rebuke last week, rejecting his plans for debt-fueled highway expansion. The Republican-controlled legislature’s Joint Finance Committee trimmed about 35 percent off Walker’s proposed $1.3 billion in borrowing for highways. If approved by the Assembly and Senate — a big […]

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