Infrastructure

Senate Committee Will 'DRIVE' Transportation Reauthorization

The Senate's DRIVE Act is shaping up to be the first six-year transportation reauthorization bill since 2009. Notwithstanding the acronym, it's not all that bad, writes Tanya Snyder of Streetsblog USA. Finding funding for it is another story.

June 25, 2015 - National Journal

A Small Hike in Oregon Gas Tax to Come at High Environmental Cost

Oregon may end its low carbon fuel standard, one of two in the nation, to increase the gas tax by four cents and implement a bevy of clean fuel alternatives to replace the three-month-old clean fuels program.

June 24, 2015 - The Oregonian

Columnist Reacts as Complete Streets Come to Lawrence, Kansas

A local columnist wonders if complete streets upgrades like the one on 31st Street in Lawrence, Kansas are the new future of roads.

June 23, 2015 - Lawrence Journal-World

Has Fuel Efficiency Been Scapegoated to Avoid Raising the Federal Gas Tax?

Vermont's Transportation Secretary points to increased fuel efficiency as reason to look for an alternative revenue option, favoring Oregon's Road Usage Charge. Meanwhile, U.S. DOT reactivated its "ticker" to warn of funding cutoff after July 31.

June 23, 2015 - VPR

A Garden District Takes Root in Milwaukee

The 13th aldermanic district, located on the southeast side of Milwaukee, is working hard to back up its claim as the city's "Garden District."

June 23, 2015 - Urban Milwaukee

Proposed Reservoir Project in Northern Colorado Completes Environmental Review

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released the environmental impact report for a dam project on the Poudre River in Northern Colorado.

June 22, 2015 - The Denver Post

trax light rail train in foreground, snow-covered mountains in background

Affordable Housing Follows Good Transit

More raw housing stock is only the first step. Without comprehensive transit, the value of density can't extend beyond the city center.

June 22, 2015 - Grist

Will N.Y.-N.J. Summit Kickstart America's Most Important Rail Project?

Peter Rogoff, the acting undersecretary of transportation, urged New York and New Jersey to agree to plans to advance Amtrak Gateway, the $15 billion Hudson River tunnels which he called the most important rail project in the country.

June 22, 2015 - NJ Spotlight

A First: Private Sector Prepares Regional Bike Plan, Backed with Cash

There are intercity Google buses, Google ferries, and now, a Google bike plan to connect neighboring Silicon Valley cities to the growing North Bayshore area of Mountain View. Google is offering $5 million to cities to implement the plan.

June 22, 2015 - Guardian Cities

Congressional Hearing Addresses Transportation Funding Problem

Transportation for America recaps the first meeting in three years by the House Ways and Means Committee to address transportation funding. Chairman Paul Ryan decried the $63 billion bailout of the Highway Trust Fund but ruled out a gas tax hike.

June 21, 2015 - T4America Blog

How to Make the Helena, Montana Urban Standards Boundary Work

Recent work by the American Planning Association’s professional institute’s Community Planning Assistance Teams program examined the case study provided by growth management challenges in and around the city of Helena, Montana.

June 21, 2015 - American Planning Association

Downtown, now

The Man Who Made Chicago Easy to Navigate

Edward Brennan waged an extended turn-of-the-century campaign to clean up Chicago's then-confusing address numbering system. Though few recognize his name, Brennan's legacy lives on in modern Chicago.

June 19, 2015 - WBEZ

Op-Ed: Stop Letting Alternative Transportation Slice from the Highway Trust Fund Pie

A Congressional bill has been introduced to "provide a long term solution" to the transportation funding problem by eliminating spending on transit, biking, and local projects rather than finding funding to maintain $50 billion in annual spending.

June 19, 2015 - Cincinnati Enquirer

With Planning Approval Comes New Value: How Can Communities Gain Too?

A post by CityMetric uses examples from the United Kingdom to make the case for new approaches to value capture.

June 19, 2015 - Citymetric

Engagement Comes Before Infrastructure

London's deputy mayor for transport says E should come before I—engagement before infrastructure.

June 18, 2015 - McKinsey & Company

Designing The Urban Technology Landscape

Urban planners need to go beyond environment and stakeholder input, taking a stronger role in the development of new technologies to design new urban futures rather than relying on software engineers.

June 17, 2015 - Humanitarian Space

Latest Hotbed of High Speed Rail Opposition: San Fernando Valley

Opposition, followed by legal action to the California High-Speed Rail project began in Northern California, spread to the Central Valley, and now has hit southern California, particularly in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County.

June 17, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Flooded Chicago River

Flooding Provides a Scare for Chicago's Two New Public Spaces

The damage could have been a lot worse, but surely flooding that temporarily closed down the Chicago Riverwalk and The 606 elevated bikeway will require additional evaluation by project planners and engineers.

June 16, 2015 - Curbed Chicago

Legislation to Decimate the Federal Gas Tax Resurfaces

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has reintroduced a bill to cut the federal gas tax by 80 percent and give transportation authority to states, known as devolution. Also, House Transportation Chair Bill Shuster is promoting repatriation as a funding source.

June 16, 2015 - The Hill

Ahead of Schedule: Detroit Wrapping Up Installation of 40,000 LED Streetlights

In perhaps the brightest sign yet of recovery, the Detroit Public Lighting Authority has made incredible progress on a project to install 40,000 LED streetlights around the city's residential neighborhoods.

June 16, 2015 - The Detroit News

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Planning for Universal Design

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