Transportation for America’s report argues that the growing cost of maintaining highways should refocus spending away from expansion projects, toward maintenance efforts.

Road conditions are deteriorating in the United States, and a report from Transportation for America argues that too many new roads is a big part of the problem. "Between 2009 and 2017, states added 223,494 highway lane miles — enough to crisscross the United States 83 times, T4A says. Those new highways add to the already crushing maintenance burden," Angie Schmitt writes for Streetsblog USA.
Many have suspected that incentives push state governments to build new assets for ribbon cuttings, instead of maintaining existing resources. This report confirms that contention. "If Congress really wants to improve infrastructure, it should attach some strings to any funding to prioritize maintenance over new construction," Schmitt suggests. Without these strings, states create a vicious cycle where each administration creates more assets to maintain while letting the ones it inherited fall further and further into disrepair.
FULL STORY: The Real Reason Roads Are In Bad Shape

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

Seattle Builds Subway-Sized Tunnel — for Stormwater
The $700 million ‘stormwater subway’ is designed to handle overflows during storms, which contain toxic runoff from roadways and vehicles.

Feds Clear Homeless Encampment in Oregon Forest
The action displaced over 100 people living on national forest land near Bend, Oregon.

Is This Urbanism?
Chuck Wolfe ponders a recommended subscription list of Substack urbanists and wonders — as have others — about the utility of the "urbanist" moniker.
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