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Keyword: freeways

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  • Maryland Lawmakers Seek to Reconnect Communities Divided by Highways

    05/25/2021 2:47:16 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 23 replies
    Maryland Matters ^ | April 28, 2021 | Bruce DePuyt
    Baltimore has its Highway to Nowhere, a road that gobbled up communities before the project was abandoned. Wilmington, Del., had neighborhoods wiped out by Interstate 95. Thousands of Detroit residents lost their homes — and surviving communities were scarred — by the construction of Interstate 375. The Overtown neighborhood in Miami, a majority-Black community, was “flattened,” also by I-95, forcing 10,000 people to leave their homes. In Nashville, bulldozers demolished 620 houses, 27 apartment buildings and six Black churches to make way for the I-40 expressway. All across the nation, American communities bear the scars of the headlong rush to...
  • Highways that destroyed Black neighborhoods are crumbling. Some want to undo that legacy

    04/01/2021 10:14:06 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 60 replies
    Channel 3000 ^ | February 27, 2021 | CNN
    (CNN) — Njeri Camara, 61, can’t visit the Shreveport, Louisiana home where she was born. Like many Black homes and neighborhoods across the country in the 1960s, it was bulldozed to clear space for highways. Camara says her parents moved when she was a baby to another Shreveport neighborhood, Allendale, where she still lives. But now her current home is at risk of being bulldozed so that a second highway, Interstate 49, can connect directly through the city. The Shreveport leaders who want to trade Camara’s home for a highway are embracing a Dwight Eisenhower-era belief in the almighty good...
  • Environmental groups concerned about I-94 project through north Minneapolis

    12/21/2019 11:45:32 AM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 10 replies
    MPR News ^ | November 20, 2019 | Elizabeth Shockman
    State transportation officials want to do something about traffic and safety on Interstate 94 between downtown Minneapolis and Interstate 694, as well as state Highway 252 between I-694 and Highway 610. Minnesota Department of Transportation is considering converting a stretch of highway into a freeway and putting MnPASS lanes on I-94 and 252. But some are raising concerns about what the proposed changes might mean for residents of north Minneapolis who live along the I-94 corridor. Alex Burns is chair of the Sierra Club North Star Chapter's land use and transportation team. He said that more traffic on I-94 will...
  • It's Not Too Late to Kill I-70 Project, Expert Says

    04/19/2019 1:06:17 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 28 replies
    Westword ^ | April 12, 2019 | Michael Roberts
    In August 2018, the Colorado Department of Transportation broke ground on Central 70, a massive five-year (at minimum) project intended to reimagine and revitalize a stretch of Interstate 70 through Denver — and construction on the I-270 flyover to eastbound I-70 will result in a large stretch of the highway being closed at 10 p.m. tonight and staying that way for the entire weekend. The timing of this temporary shutdown is noteworthy, given that it follows in the wake of a new national report that rips Central 70 and argues that rather than expanding the existing roadway, CDOT should tear...
  • More Cities Are Banishing Highways Underground — And Building Parks on Top

    04/28/2018 1:04:22 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 34 replies
    The Pew Charitable Trusts ^ | April 2, 2018 | Martha T. Moore
    The most popular place to put a city park is, increasingly, on a highway. Cities looking to boost their downtowns, or to improve downtrodden neighborhoods, are creating “highway cap parks” on decks constructed over freeways that cut through the urban center. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Denver and Dallas have deck parks underway. Atlanta, Houston, Minneapolis and Santa Monica, California, are among the cities considering similar projects. In crowded cities, highway deck parks are a way to create new acreage and provide green space that can spur downtown development. Capping a highway to create a park also can reconnect urban neighborhoods sliced apart...
  • How California Car Culture Killed The Promise Of A 20-Minute Commute

    04/16/2018 8:33:57 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 40 replies
    KPBS News ^ | April 16, 2018 | Meghan McCarty Carino/KPCC
    As an innovator and early adopter of freeways, California became the symbolic capital of car culture. But the ease of movement conferred by the massive postwar freeway building boom was short-lived, turning the dream of car travel into a nightmare of congestion and long commutes. The story of how Californians went from getting around to getting stuck behind the wheel is deeply entwined with the history of the urban freeway, an enterprise that advanced earlier and on a larger scale here than anywhere else in the country. Half a century ago, there was reason for optimism about cars. Los Angeles...
  • Top 5 Biggest Road Construction Projects In DFW

    11/29/2016 1:03:25 AM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 10 replies
    CBS DFW ^ | November 1, 2016 | Brian New
    NORTH TEXAS (CBS11) – It is nearly impossible these days in North Texas to avoid road construction projects. While billions of dollars are being pumped into the roadway system, TxDOT said it still can’t keep up with the growth. “There are a thousand people moving a day to Texas and we’ve (North Texas) got most of them,” said TxDOT Dallas spokesperson Donna Huerta. “We can’t keep up with that kind of demand, but what we can do is take what we have and make it better.” With a new approach allowing contractors to design and build a project simultaneously, TxDOT...
  • World’s worst traffic jam? Cars stuck in Thanksgiving getaway 'gridlock' [LA]

    11/23/2016 6:14:13 AM PST · by C19fan · 44 replies
    UK Telegraph ^ | November 23, 2016 | Mark Molloy
    If these motorists thought setting off early would help them beat the Thanksgiving getaway rush, it appears a few others had the same idea. ABC7 Eyewitness News captured incredible footage of what might just be the world’s worst car jam in southern California, bringing traffic to a crawl.
  • Traffic Talk: In Los Angeles, the topic is priority Number One.

    05/11/2016 8:42:42 AM PDT · by C19fan · 20 replies
    City Journal ^ | May 11, 2016 | Fred Siegel
    In December, preparing to escape what turned out to be a mild New York winter for the palmy breezes of Southern California, I was stunned when friends suggested that I think twice about coming to Los Angeles. What could be awful enough to keep my wife and me in the Northeast? I soon discovered that, for every Angeleno I spoke with, the answer was the same. It wasn’t homelessness, crime, or El Niño; it wasn’t that Kobe Bryant was retiring. No, it was traffic: the subject of constant calculation and discussion, a matter of negotiation between friends, spouses, and would-be...
  • The Worst Damn Freeways In America

    11/06/2015 6:49:00 AM PST · by C19fan · 73 replies
    The Thrillist ^ | November 5, 2015 | Aaron Miller
    This isn’t about how long you sit in traffic. That's just one part of it. This is about the entire godawful experience that is commuting on the US interstate system, day in and day out, navigating around terrifying Final Destination-esque scenarios, jostled by relentless potholes that the bottleneck-inducing, 365-days-a-year construction never seems to fix. Here are the absolute worst freeways in America, as determined by a metric of suck that we’re calling the Total Horribleness Index. Basically, we combed through a ton of data from the Federal Highway Administration to find out just how awful a city's traffic really is....
  • Editorial: Fixing I-30 needs to be downtown’s highway priority

    10/28/2015 11:10:06 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 16 replies
    The Dallas Morning News ^ | October 27, 2015 | The Dallas Morning News
    The planners, residents and developers hunched over maps Thursday had plenty of ideas for the daunting task of untangling and improving the massive web of aging highways in and around downtown Dallas. About 50 of them were gathered at the Dallas Regional Chamber for the second of three public input workshops on TxDOT’s CityMAP project. The goal? To provide a blueprint and menu of options for city officials on potential costs, traffic impacts, timeline and designs for Interstate 30, I-345, I-35E and Woodall Rodgers. It would be wonderful if the city could eat the whole apple — all the worthy...
  • The T Spot: Pansi with e-toll robbery (#OWS-style rant against tolls in South Africa)

    11/15/2011 12:37:55 PM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 1 replies
    The New Age ^ | November 14, 2011 | Tselane Tambo
    HAIBO man, I mean really, it’s not fair. It’s not right. Haibo, angeke! (Hell no!) The thing is that we only earn so much money, and in my sector that isn’t very much at all, and we give so much of it to the tax man and the electricity man and the gas man and the pool man and the hair man and the mani-pedi man and the restaurant man and the education man and the church man and I can go on into a lot of et cetera. From whence comes this e-toll man, now? There is not space...
  • Friday Interview: Fighting Traffic Gridlock in North Carolina

    08/06/2010 11:20:02 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 8 replies · 1+ views
    Carolina Journal ^ | August 6, 2010 | CJ Staff
    RALEIGH — North Carolina’s traffic congestion could double in the next couple of decades, with Charlotte drivers facing the same types of delays Chicago drivers face now. That was the conclusion of a 2007 John Locke Foundation report. It recommended $12 billion of spending to clear North Carolina’s congested urban roads and prepare for future traffic growth. Many traffic problems outlined three years ago continue to cause concerns today. Randal O’Toole, senior fellow with the Cato Institute, recently tackled the issue from a national perspective in the book Gridlock: Why We’re Stuck in Traffic and What to Do About It....
  • Private company proposes tearing down and rebuilding part of I-35W

    05/21/2010 8:58:36 AM PDT · by Willie Green · 5 replies · 367+ views
    Star-Telegram ^ | Thursday, May 20, 2010 | GORDON DICKSON
    A toll road developer has offered to tear down and rebuild 10 miles of Interstate 35W from downtown to far north Fort Worth to relieve one of Tarrant County's biggest bottlenecks with a combination of toll and nontoll lanes. The proposal by NTE Mobility Partners, submitted this week to the Texas Department of Transportation, would allow motorists to pay their way out of congestion on toll lanes that would extend from Interstate 30 near downtown to North Tarrant Parkway, south of Alliance Airport. For motorists who can't or don't want to pay tolls, the project would include reconstruction of existing...
  • North Carolina discusses I-95 as a toll road

    03/31/2010 8:06:04 AM PDT · by Willie Green · 35 replies · 890+ views
    Land Line Magazine ^ | March 30, 2010 | David Tanner
    Tolling and public-private partnerships are on the table in North Carolina as state officials look into improving Interstate 95. The North Carolina Department of Transportation recently hired two consulting firms, PBS&J and Baker Engineering – at a cost of $6.4 million – to evaluate the state’s 182 miles of I-95 and to develop recommendations for financing. The report, titled “I-95 Corridor Planning and Finance Study,” is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2011. “Renewing I-95 through upgrades and widening is an expensive process, and NCDOT is researching both traditional and non-traditional methods of funding as part of this...
  • Without Money, Its Only Caltrans Dreaming (Hey Dems - Where Did All The Freeway Fund Money Go Alert)

    07/23/2008 1:08:47 AM PDT · by goldstategop · 4 replies · 137+ views
    Los Angeles Times ^ | 7/23/2008 | Steve Hymon, Road Sage
    Caltrans announced Tuesday its preferred method for improving the 405-101 freeway interchange, which the agency says is one of the busiest in the world. But don't get too excited. The agency also says that it doesn't have the money to design or build the project, which is expected to cost about $135 million. Still, this is one of those classic bottlenecks, and understanding why it doesn't work helps explain a lot of other bottlenecks on Southern California freeways. The big problem is that entrance and exit ramps have been placed too close to one another. The particular issue on the...
  • Bad air could delay major freeway projects

    07/10/2008 5:46:48 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 4 replies · 229+ views
    The Bakersfield Californian ^ | July 10, 2008 | James Burger and James Geluso
    Dust storms that fouled Kern County’s air in May could mean months of delay for two major Kern County freeway projects. A project to widen Highway 46 from Holloway Road west to Highway 33 at Blackwells Corner will almost certainly be delayed for five months or more, said Ron Brummett, executive director of the Kern Council of Governments. And the Westside Parkway in Bakersfield, a freeway that’s to run west from a point near Highway 99 to Heath Road, might also be delayed if dickering over air quality standards goes on too long. The Environmental Protection Agency, Brummett said, is...
  • Driver found shot in LA freeway wreck

    03/30/2008 10:10:14 PM PDT · by traumer · 42 replies · 1,255+ views
    LOS ANGELES - Rescue crews responding to a wreck on a Los Angeles freeway found a driver fatally shot in the head early Sunday, while another driver was shot and wounded in a separate attack about 30 miles away, authorities said. The shootings were the latest in a string of attacks on Southern California freeways that have alarmed motorists and authorities. Investigators did not know what led to the fatal shooting on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley on Sunday. The wreck snarled traffic for several hours near Van Nuys. "There's absolutely no witnesses at this time, no...
  • How to Keep Our Bridges Safe

    08/04/2007 8:28:38 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 33 replies · 998+ views
    Wall Street Journal ^ | August 4, 2007 | STEVEN MALANGA
    Nearly a fifth of America's roads are now considered in poor shape and about one-in-four bridges is rated "structurally deficient." The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the cost to fix these problems is a staggering $460 billion. The tab grows far larger when you add in the hundreds of billions to build the new transportation infrastructure that's needed to handle the country's growth. Part of the problem is that big increases in state and local spending for politically popular programs, especially Medicaid and education, as well costly public employee pensions and benefits, have crowded out infrastructure -- even as...
  • Editorial: Gutsy hike in gas tax belongs on the table

    04/07/2007 7:00:29 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 32 replies · 947+ views
    San Antonio Express-News ^ | April 7, 2007 | San Antonio Express-News
    The growing traffic congestion in Texas is a multipronged problem that cannot be solved by one policy. At a time when toll roads appear to be state leadership's primary answer to the dilemma, a bill proposed by Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, has merit. The legislation would index the gas tax to the Highway Cost Index, or the cost of highway construction over time. According to Carona's office, the bill by 2030 would generate about $16 billion in gas tax revenue — or 31/2 times more than the current gas tax would. Not only would more money be available for transportation...