Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Highway Expansion

Other Cities Look to Tear Down Their Old Highways, But Not Denver

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 18, 2014 | No Comments

Denver has one of those golden opportunities that many American cities are seizing: An elevated highway that damaged neighborhoods is nearing the end of its life, giving the city an opening to repair the harm. Unfortunately, as Tanya has reported, Denver seems poised to double down on highway building instead. The city is looking to bury […]

Moving Cars vs. Investing in Places — The Struggle for American Cities

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 9, 2014 | No Comments

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker and Mayor Tom Barrett are brawling in the press over a proposed highway project — a fight that exemplifies the enormous rift in America about what transportation policy should accomplish. Walker still thinks about transportation projects the same way the interstate planners of the 1950s thought about them. In […]

8 Monster Interchanges That Blight American Cities

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 1, 2014 | No Comments

Ramming highways through the middle of American cities was undoubtedly one of the worst mistakes of the 20th century — demolishing urban habitat, dividing neighborhoods, and erecting structures that suck the life out of places. What could be worse than a highway through the middle of town? How about when two highways intersect, with all […]

7 Photos Show How Detroit Hollowed Out During the Highway Age

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 24, 2014 | No Comments

While searching for images of highway interchanges in urban areas, I came across these historic aerial photos of Detroit on a message board, showing how the city fabric has slowly eroded. It’s a remarkable record of a process that has scarred many other American cities. 1949: Here’s what the east side of the city looked like right […]

Study: Corrupt States Spend More on Highways

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 6, 2014 | No Comments

A new academic study helps explain the enduring political popularity of expensive transportation boondoggles like Birmingham’s $4.7 billion Northern Beltline and Kentucky’s $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges. According to research published in the journal Public Administration Review, states with higher levels of public corruption spend more money on highways and construction. The study found highway and construction projects and police programs […]

How Road Planners Fail Neighborhoods

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 4, 2014 | No Comments

Why do neighborhood groups — especially in low-income areas — have such a hard time influencing the design of major road projects? An interesting case study from the University of Colorado-Denver sheds some light. To examine the barriers to incorporating public health principles into transportation planning, researchers studied the Allied-Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin, a disadvantaged but […]

Show More Stories