Highway Expansion
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Whose Streets?
“Whose Streets? OUR Streets!” yell rowdy demonstrators when they surge off the sidewalk and into thoroughfares. True enough, the streets are our public commons, what’s left of it (along with libraries and our diminishing public schools), but most of the time these public avenues are dedicated to the movement of vehicles, mostly privately owned autos. Other uses are frowned upon, discouraged by laws and regulations and what has become our “customary expectations.” Ask any driver who is impeded by anything other than a “normal” traffic jam and they’ll be quick to denounce the inappropriate use or blockage of the street.
August 9, 2011
Third Houston Outerbelt Would Turn Prairies Into Texas Toast
There's a place just outside Houston where the vinyl siding and attached garages thin out and recede into grasslands.
April 28, 2011
A State DOT’s Unshakable Highway Fixation
The South Carolina Department of Transportation is sometimes still familiarly known as the "highway department." That was, in fact, the agency's proper title until 1977, when it was changed by order of the general assembly to the Department of Highways and Public Transportation.
February 10, 2011
New Freeway Revolt Grips Guadalajara
While the world has gathered in Cancun, Mexico, to discuss again a shared approach to Climate Chaos, action is already being taken in countless communities. On a visit last week to Guadalajara, Mexico, more than a thousand miles west of the Climate Meeting, I had the pleasure of discovering a vibrant grassroots movement to block the construction of a new 23-kilometer elevated freeway through the heart of the city. Interestingly, this movement leans primarily on people who live along the proposed route of the freeway, but found crucial support and activism from Ciudad Para Todos (City For All), a three-year-old group of bicycle and transit activists who are Guadalajara’s most vocal opponents to the reign of the car.
December 6, 2010
In Humboldt County, It’s Redwoods Versus the Phantom Wall-Mart
Drive north from San Francisco for a few hours, and the 101 will gradually melt into a slim road between giant sequoia trees. You've found your way to Richardson Grove State Park, where you can see thousand-year-old redwoods, the South Fork Eel River, and lots of campgrounds, but you won't see any big box stores.
July 20, 2010
Senate Starts Work on New Transport Bill, With House Version as a Guide
The Senate today took its first steps towards voting on a new
long-term federal transportation bill, with environment committee
chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) vowing to take up a successor to the 2005
infrastructure law before 2011 and indicating she would use the
House's already-introduced
version as a framework.
March 3, 2010
TCS: Disputed Transport Provision in Jobs Bill Rewarded Political Clout
A provision in the Senate jobs bill that would distribute $932 million in 2010 transportation funding based on existing earmarks is in line for a quick fix, thanks to a deal
struck on Friday between House transportation committee chairman Jim
Oberstar (D-MN) and Democratic leaders in the upper chamber.
March 2, 2010
New Analysis: Major Cities Still Shortchanged by Transportation Stimulus
The Obama administration's awarding of $1.5 billion in competitive transportation stimulus grants on Wednesday sparked elation in cities such as Kansas City and New Orleans. But those celebrations were more than just anecdotal evidence of the so-called TIGER program's urban impact, according to a new analysis from the Brookings Institution's Rob Puentes.
February 19, 2010