Construction
Are state-tolled interstates in America’s future?
Last week, the Obama administration announced details of its transportation bill first been announced in February. As Next City reports, sandwiched among the budget allocations — which total $302 billion — is an important proposal: the Department of Transportation is asking Congress to allow it to permit states to tack on new tolls to Interstate […]
4-mile, £220m bike path proposed for London
Out of the birthplace of “Stairway to Heaven” comes another fantastical transport idea: a bike-way that soars above the city of London. Renowned British architect Norman Foster – designer of London’s upturned-blimp-shaped Gherkin – recently released a proposal to construct new, three-story-high bicycle routes above existing rail lines throughout the city, according to the Daily Mail. The […]
New Indiana I-67 interstate: a boondoggle?
Business owners in Indiana and Kentucky are campaigning to build a new interstate, tentatively called the I-67, which would connect with the work-in-progress I-69 near Washington, IN, run south through Jasper and Owensboro, and later link with another highway in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The high price tag of highway projects and the low usage of […]
The new Bay Bridge is finally here. But is it safe?
The much maligned and brand-new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is set to open after Labor Day weekend. Even with a number of dangerous flaws discovered in its construction, the new Bay Bridge promises to be much safer than the old one once it opens. With this opening just two weeks away, Bay Area residents […]
A “cut and cap” solution to Austin I-35 highway may better connect Texas
You’ve no doubt already read — on this blog and likely elsewhere — about the decaying, often disastrous state that our country’s highways are currently in, from Oklahoma to Michigan, Florida to California. There is broad consensus among government, engineers, and the driving public about the state of the roads, but with limited budgets and […]
U.S. 36 transformation underway
The story of U.S. 36, a Colorado highway connecting Boulder with Denver, is similar to that of other roads throughout the country: it’s overworked and under-equipped. According to the New York Times, after opening in 1952, built to carry 3,000 cars daily by 1980, the highway was serving 14,000 cars daily by 1966. Today’s figures […]
Tunnel ahead: California conquers Devil’s Slide
California is home to awe-inspiring tunnels, from the Yerba Buena Island Tunnel, the world’s widest single-bore tunnel, and the Wawona, the state’s longest tunnel highway, to the famous 2nd Street Tunnel, the Los Angeles landmark that makes frequent guest appearances in movies like Blade Runner and countless car commercials. Yet a new tunnel highway hadn’t […]