Highways
China's Superhighway on Kenyan Soil
Three Chinese companies are building a 31-mile highway to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. It's a move locals see as an effort to gain favor with the Kenyan government.
Explaining Induced Traffic
Eric Jaffe at The Infrastructurist explains the non-intuitive reason why often removing freeways means less traffic.
Building Roads to Cure Congestion Is an Exercise in Futility
University of Toronto professors say that building more roads just encourages more driving. Building transit doesn't help reduce congestion either, though it still maximizes the value of the transportation system.
Houston Roadway Would Fuel Growth, Harm Migratory Birds
Plans to build a parkway around Houston will help ease traffic and spur growth in the region, but it will also run right through a key stopover point for millions of migrating birds.
Does the U.S. Need More Highways?
National Journal asks its panel of experts whether the U.S. needs more highways, and if they should or shouldn't be a major part of transportation funding in the near future.
When is a Freeway Not a Freeway?
When there is a toll, of course. But the Federal Highway Administration uses the word indiscriminately, confusing the matter, writes Peter Samuel of Toll Roads News.
More Urban Highways Seeing Demise
Cities across the country are beginning to realize the mistakes they made years ago dividing their downtowns with urban highways. The city of New Haven has decided to do something about it.
Chinatowns: 3, Freeways: 0
In the 1960s and 70s, Chinatowns were threatened by highway development in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. None of the proposed highways was built, thanks to concerted efforts by the Chinese communities.
New Report Says Roads Don’t Pay For Themselves
A new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group PIRG's report estimates that road construction has cost the American public $600 billion since the highway system began.
Animal Overpasses
Highways can be deadly for animals, especially when they cut directly through habitats. A recently completed design competition sought ideas for creating animal-safe bridges over highways.
Highways And Labor Markets II
One accurate measurement can be more insightful than a thousand expert opinions. In a recent blog titled, Livability and All That, highway expert Alan Pisarski argues that highway-oriented transport systems are necessary for efficient consumer and labor markets.
A Traffic Engineer Questions His Profession
Charles Marohn is a traffic engineer. Despite years of training and millenia of precedents, Marohn now feels that the common practice of traffic engineering is creating bad and even unsafe streets.
Greening an Urban Highway
New York City presents three options for transforming the six-lane Brooklyn-Queens Expressway by covering it with vegetation and making streetscape improvements.
Highways and Labor Markets
In a recent blog post,(1) highway expert Alan Pisarski suggests that highway-oriented sprawl development is somehow necessary for the development of modern labor markets.(2) Pisarski writes that regional job markets are jobs are more specialized today than they were in his youth, and labor markets are thus "of immense size because many [highly specialized] employers need a market of hundreds of thousands of potential workers to reach the ones they need. The Atlanta region of 26 counties is not a great economic engine because it is 26 charming adjacent hamlets, but rather because the market reach of employers, suppliers, customers and job seekers spreads over several million residents."
The Not-So-Good Impact of Goods Movement
A group of researchers and activists met recently to discuss the role of goods movement and logistics in and around ports, and how the industry contributes to local pollution problems and skews highway spending.
New Jersey Running Out of Land
The NYT is reporting that New Jersey is running out of developable land, but with the recent ARC decision, the legacy of the Mount Laurel doctrine, and decades of highway-based suburbanizing policies, is New Jersey actually ready for density?
Transportation Research Helped Create Sprawl, New Report Says
We've been measuring traffic congestion all wrong, a new report shows, and that's been making more highways look like the solution to long commutes. They're not.
Who Killed the Streetcar?
It's an article of faith among many that GM, Firestone, and Standard Oil destroyed the streetcar networks of the early 20th century. Stephen Smith suggests that Progressive Era and New Deal planners and politicians should shoulder more of the blame.
Report Finds Driving Down, Roads In Good Condition
A new report from The Reason Foundation finds that the nation's roads and highways are in the best shape of the last 19 years. The authors contend that this fact is largely a result of fewer people driving due to the recession.
The Question of Interstate 69
Next American City reviews a new book by Matt Dellinger about Interstate 69, the as-yet-unbuilt highway that could create a direct link between the Mexican and Canadian borders.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
