1/ Let's take a deeper dive into the completely bonkers TxDOT claim that expanding I-35 through AUSTIN will only increase GHG emissions by 14 percent over the baseline no-build scenario.

The claim hinges on very strange VMT results.

2/ First, we need to understand the scale of this project. It's an absolute beast. 365 FEET OF ROW!! Yellow = mainlanes; Green = frontage roads; Light Blue = untolled managed lanes.

But don't worry because the Dark Blue is a quiet, low-stress shared-use path.

1/ @aashtospeaks submitted a comment in response to USDOT's proposed GHG performance measure. AASHTO opens by saying they "strongly support the overall goal" of reducing GHGs. Do they really? Let's take a look. 2/ Welp, right off the bat we have a head-scratcher. "Not all state DOTs have the same ability to directly affect the reduction in GHGs..."

Every state controls **hundreds of billions of $$$** for building major roads and highways, so yes, they do.

1/ Let's talk about why the group of connectivity projects (some of them quite good) proposed by Central Houston for the massive $10B I-45 North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP) are lipstick on a pig. 2/ First, a bit of review. The monster I-45 expansion project would require the demolition of 1,079 housing units (of which 486 are public and/or low-income), 344 businesses, and 2 schools.

These are massive impacts.

1/ In 1956, General Motors opened its famed Technical Center, which was designed by Eero Saarinen. The modernist architecture is spectacular. In the booklet Where Today Meets Tomorrow, GM refers to the facility as a "technopolis." 2/ I mean, dag.

1/ I'm trying to understand why the modernist vision for urban renewal after WWII was so powerful. I think a small part of it is how people respond to models/visuals. And this got me thinking about art. I dig this painting by Camille Pissarro of Rue Saint Lazare, 1893. 2/ The scene depicted is vibrant and captures the energy and shared use of the public right-of-way that appeals to urban reformers. But this controlled chaos isn't how we present renewal models. It's a bit of a Jackson Pollack.

1/ Let's talk about the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and how a decision by this little-known corner of the federal government on a dispute between Amtrak and two Class I freight RR (CSX & NS) could have huge implications for passenger rail service nationally. 2/ The case before the STB is about a plan for Amtrak to run two round trips each day between New Orleans (NOLA) and Mobile. The service would operate on CSX and NS railroad tracks (i.e., these Class I carriers are the host railroads).

1/ Let's talk about how federal transportation funding can deepen social/mobility inequality. H.R. 6270 (AAIM Act) would provide grants for the planning, environmental review, and construction of eVTOL vertiports (i.e., pads for flying cars and drones). 2/ We need to start with some basics: (1) Flying cars will be an elite form of transportation; (2) they will not reduce surface congestion; and (3) they will deepen inequality and elite isolation as well as harm the environment. americanprogress.org/article/flying…

1/ Let's talk about the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse within the context of PA's transportation finance system, including the PA Turnpike Authority.

We think of turnpike authorities as revenue generating and therefore walled off from cities and DOTs. Not so much in PA. 2/ According to the National Bridge Inventory database, the Fern Hollow bridge received a "Poor Condition" rating for its superstructure (i.e., the part that holds up the deck/roadway) in 2012. The slow decline of a bridge built in 1970 became critical 10 years ago.

1/ Let's talk about the new long-range transportation plan (Connect 2050) for Durham-Chapel Hill-Carborro (DCHC) and how the NC's Strategic Transportation Investment (STI) law & project scoring process penalizes regions that want to advance progressive transportation plans. 2/ Like many MPOs, Durham/DCHC has for years included progressive language & goals in its long-range plan. For instance, the 2050 plan places a heavy emphasis on affordable, safe, multimodal access as well as addressing climate change and health.

1/ Glad NYT is covering the epidemic of traffic violence. Unfortunately, the piece doesn't adequately cover how roadways are deadly by design. We have chosen to prioritize saving drivers a few seconds at the expense of pedestrian lives. Let's take a look.
nytimes.com/2022/02/14/us/… 2/ According to local reports, this is the intersection where Pronoy was killed. This intersection is a nightmare of deadly design choices. We can start with the slip lane (shown in red). The purpose of this lane is to slingshot cars at maximum speed from US 66 onto Tingley.

1/ Let's talk about Tennessee and perhaps the biggest challenge facing progressive implementation of the infrastructure bill (IIJA): existing project lists.

The infrastructure bill gives states a big funding boost. But in many places those dollars are spoken for. How? 2/ When governors want to raise revenues to expand transportation facilities, they typically work with legislators to generate a list of projects that would be built with the money. Often, the cost of the list exceeds the expected revenue, but this is ignored to get the votes.

1/ A Utah state agency is planning a "one-car community" called The Point, which will be a modified version of the 15-minute city concept covering more than 600 acres south of SLC along I-15 in Draper. 2/ There is a lot to like about the plan and the state is clearly trying to break with traditional development forms. But I can't shake the phrase "not quite." The Point is not quite a city, not quite an office park, and not quite a suburban bedroom community.

1/ Let's talk about TxDOT's plan to widen FM 529 (Freeman Rd.). @DugBegley at the Chronicle has a smart piece about how rapid growth has pushed up traffic on FM 529 with thousands more housing units coming in the near future. 2/ Important to understand that this widening and low-density sprawl isn't an unintended consequence but rather the goal of building beltways like SR 99/The Grand Parkway. This is the intended growth model. But it comes at a steep ecological price. Look at the current land use.

1/ Let's talk about the $1B I-30 Crossing project in Little Rock, AR (1st map) and the Claiborne Expressway in NoLa (2nd map) as well as the asymmetry in federal law that privileges highway expansion over transit & efforts to rebuild communities torn apart by highways. 2/ ArDOT estimates that in the absence of the $1B expansion, I-30 will have ominous congestion in 2045. Standard doom and gloom. In response, ArDOT defined the purpose of this project as highway expansion to meet this projected demand.

1/ TxDOT is pushing hard to widen I-35 based, in part, on traffic forecasts that show doom and gloom. Reader, you should be deeply skeptical since TxDOT has missed the mark for decades. Let's take a look. 2/ In 2002, TxDOT predicted that average daily traffic (ADT) on I-35 over Lady Bird Lake (red square on map) would hit 330,000 by 2020. In 2012, having hugely missed the mark, TxDOT revised this to 302,000 by 2035. (h/t @JackCraver)

Actual 2019 ADT: 201,543

1/ Let's talk about AASHTO giving Utah DOT an award for "quality of life/community development" for a $415 million widening of I-15 in Lehi, Utah, which sits south of SLC along the Wasatch Front. Expansion of I-15 corridor dates back to plans from 2008. 2/ The I-15 Technology Corridor project adds 2 lanes in each direction, changes frontage roads, and adds crossings. The "community" boast in the award relates to sidewalk & shared use path elements, which you can sort of pick out of the project photos.

1/ TxDOT has released an analysis of impacts from proposed widening of I-35 through (8 mi) in the heart of Austin. Reader, it's not looking good. TxDOT is considering a once-in-multiple-generations investment without learning any of the lessons of history. Let's take a look. 2/ Highway expansion has only three options: up, down, or out. Early on, TxDOT pitched a design that would have buried most of the expansion. The problem was cost. At $8 billion, TxDOT balked and went for two cheaper options that would expand outward.

1/ Let's talk about the Grand Parkway (SR 99) around Houston and why Congress should return the TIFIA loan program to a discretionary credit facility. Green segments (D-G) are open to traffic. The mustard segments (H & I-1) are under construction. Brown segments (A-C) are TBD. 2/ TxDOT says the 184-mile Grand Parkway (SR 99) was "Conceptualized in the early 1960s," which is a reminder that once a highway planner puts lines on a map, they never die—even if they take decades to complete. Anyways, USDOT is giving this project a direct loan of up to $605M.

1/ Everyone wants to talk asset recycling (i.e., brownfield lease P3s). Ok let's look at the Bayonne, NJ water concession to understand why asset recycling (AR) is an expensive form of financing often tied to terrible contract provisions. 🧵 2/ The deal transfers responsibility for some capex and O&M for 40 years to the Bayonne Water Joint Venture (initially United Water & investment firm KKR). This lousy deal is shot full of holes. I'll focus mostly on water rates and the lack of risk transference.

1/ I'm still trying to wrap my head around these Detroit photos. Transportation folks tend to start the story with the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. But system planning starts earlier and occurs within a context of deep race and class-based discrimination. Let's take a look. 2/ In his 1949 SOTU, President Truman said 5 million Americans were living in "slums and fire traps."

That year Congress passed the Housing Act of 1949. Title 1 of the bill is literally "Slum Clearance..." Again, this matters as context for highway planning.

1/ Let's talk about extension of I-49 outside of Fort Smith, Arkansas.

ARDOT estimates the 13.7-mile extension of I-49 from Alma to Barling will cost $787 million. The state and project boosters claim this boondoggle is a "critical connection" and a "missing link." 2/ Planning for I-49 goes back to 1988. And ARDOT completed the EIS/ROD for I-49 in 1997, which is a reminder that lousy highway ideas never die — they just hibernate. This is why new money from DC must come with policy reforms.