Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG have released the fifth edition of its Highway Boondoggles report.

Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG today released "Highway Boondoggles 5" [pdf] to call attention to the "billions of dollars’ worth of new and expanded highways" proposed in the United States, which "often do little to reduce congestion or address real transportation challenges, while diverting scarce funding from infrastructure repairs and key transportation priorities."
The report also notes that car-based transportation is dangerous and is the nation's leading source of climate changing emissions.
The nine projects making the list for this year's annual report, with more detail included on the website announcing the new report and the report itself:
- Complete 540, North Carolina ($2.2 billion)
- North Houston Highway Improvement Project, Texas ($7+ billion)
- High Desert Freeway, California ($8 billion)
- I-75 Widening, Michigan ($1 billion)
- Tri-State Tollway Widening, Illinois ($4 billion)
- "Connecting Miami" Widening project, Florida ($802 million)
- I-83 Widening, Pennsylvania ($300 million)
- I-5 Rose Quarter Widening, Oregon ($450 million)
- Interstate 81 Widening, Virginia ($2.2 billion)
As the antidote to wasteful and polluting highway projects, the report also suggests several varieties of transportation policies to help reverse the patterns of car dependency, like investing in public transit, adopting "fix-it-first" policies," and collecting and sharing better data and research on travel choices and preferences.
Joe Cortright picked up the news about the I-5 Rose Quarter project making the list. That project has been roundly criticized for questionable math about the project's reported benefits in congestion relief and pollution mitigation.
FULL STORY: Highway Boondoggles 5

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

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

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Milwaukee Launches Vision Zero Plan
Seven years after the city signed its Complete Streets Policy, the city is doubling down on its efforts to eliminate traffic deaths.

Portland Raises Parking Fees to Pay for Street Maintenance
The city is struggling to bridge a massive budget gap at the Bureau of Transportation, which largely depleted its reserves during the Civd-19 pandemic.

Spokane Mayor Introduces Housing Reforms Package
Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposals include deferring or waiving some development fees to encourage more affordable housing development.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont