Denver Residents Won’t Be Satisfied Until I-25 Ramp Project Is Officially Canceled

The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has expressed interest in abandoning a controversial infrastructure project, but residents are wary of celebrating too soon.

News, Top StoryAsia MieleszkoMarch 16, 2023highways, colorado, freeway widening, end highway expansion, safe and productive streets, infrastructure Be the First to Comment

Sweat the Small Stuff

Your city’s long-term resilience requires paying attention to the little things.

Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedMarch 7, 2023maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, public investment, little bets, infrastructure, public space, small bets 2 Comments

ODOT Proposes That Commuters Pay $600–2,200 per Year for Highway Expansion

ODOT’s expansion of I-205—and subsequent tolling—might make it so that the average household will be spending 8.7% of their household income on transportation needs.

Top StoryJoe CortrightFebruary 28, 2023highways, highway spending, transportation, transportation spending, toll roads, freeway widening, end highway expansion, oregon, infrastructure 3 Comments

A New Tool to Calculate the Lifecycle of Infrastructure

Calculating the 100-year lifecycle costs of new development shouldn’t be an obscure process, and the province of British Columbia, Canada, has created a tool to help its communities do exactly that.

Top StorySeairra JonesFebruary 23, 2023infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, maintenance, Incremental Housing, canada, development pattern, development Be the First to Comment

The Largest Mistake of Our Generation

The proposed annual budget for Winnipeg, MB, reveals the true cost of the Suburban Experiment, and the vibrancy that the city (and so many others like it) has sacrificed in many of its neighborhoods.

Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodFebruary 22, 2023suburban experiment, canada, suburban development pattern, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, budget, finance, public finance, transportation, transportation spending, transparent local accounting, growth ponzi scheme 2 Comments

Colorado Development Scheme Yields Billion-Dollar Debt

The town council in Castle Rock, CO, received a shocking briefing at a recent meeting: that their single, mid-sized region within a single, mid-sized state has accrued almost a billion dollars of debt. But how?

News, Top StoryBen AbramsonFebruary 22, 2023colorado, debt, Ponzi Scheme, finance, suburban development pattern, transparent local accounting, infrastructure, growth ponzi scheme, municipal finance 2 Comments

The Governor of Missouri Wants to Spend $859 Million on Highway Expansion

A proposed highway expansion in Missouri will not only bulldoze through key areas in and around downtown St. Louis, but it’s also going to cost $859 million. Let’s go over some better ways that money could be spent.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 25, 2023podcast, infrastructure, infrastructure spending, highways, highway spending, missouri, upzoned, end highway expansion 3 Comments

Ruling: Oklahoma Turnpike Authority “Willfully” Misled Public to Force $5 Billion Expansion Project

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority faces multiple lawsuits, with plaintiffs alleging its plans for an imminent turnpike expansion project not only lacked transparency, but were illegal.

News, Top StoryAsia MieleszkoJanuary 16, 2023transportation, infrastructure, oklahoma, DOT, highways, freeway widening, end highway expansion Be the First to Comment

Everything Is a Safety Improvement

…At least, according to the transportation professionals who advance harmful infrastructure projects in the communities they’re supposed to serve.

Top StoryAsia MieleszkoJanuary 10, 2023engineers, engineering ethics, end highway expansion, safety, infrastructure Be the First to Comment

Financial Outlook for 2023 and Beyond

What kind of financial challenges can our cities and towns expect to face in the new year?

MarohnCharles MarohnJanuary 2, 2023financial solvency, infrastructure, infrastructure bill, infrastructure cost, transparent local accounting 3 Comments

Your City May Be Illegally Assessing You for Routine Infrastructure Maintenance

Part of having transparent local accounting is ensuring that the people living in a community know and understand the public costs associated with their homes and businesses. Right now, that isn’t the case in most places.

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnNovember 28, 2022public finance, maintenance, infrastructure, infrastructure cost, infrastructure maintenance, financial solvency, transparent local accounting, local economy 3 Comments

The Impact of Systemic Racism on Jackson's Water Crisis

Strong Towns member and former Jackson, MS, resident Amanda Lanata comes to the Strong Towns Podcast to discuss the role that racism played in the city’s recent water crisis.

Podcast, Marohn, Top StoryStrong TownsNovember 21, 2022podcast, water, infrastructure maintenance, race, mississippi, infrastructure 1 Comment

MoDOT Is Proud of Their Highways. Missourians, Not So Much.

MoDOT recently put out a tweet celebrating the 50-year anniversary of a highway that tore up Kansas City’s downtown. Here are just some of the (rightfully) angry reactions they got.

Marohn, Top Story, NewsCharles MarohnNovember 10, 2022missouri, DOT, transportation, highways, urban freeways, freeways, infrastructure cult, infrastructure, engineers, traffic engineering, end highway expansion 4 Comments

What Does $106 Million Get You in Maine? A Redundant Highway Expansion That Nobody Wants.

Maine residents want road maintenance. MaineDOT is giving them more roads.

NewsSeairra JonesNovember 8, 2022Nero Project, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, infrastructure cost, highways, highway spending, transportation, transportation spending, Maine, maintenance, end highway expansion 1 Comment

Water System Crises and Solutions

What are the origins of our current water systems, and how should we think about them, going forward?

Podcast, Marohn, Top StoryStrong TownsNovember 7, 2022podcast, water, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, history 1 Comment

CDOT Leads the Way in Not Building Highways

Traffic headaches in Denver, CO, have caused the state to realize that widening highways just isn’t working, anymore. Instead, Colorado is making a huge shift in its transportation priorities.

Top StorySeairra JonesOctober 25, 2022success stories, colorado, transportation, infrastructure, local government, end highway expansion 2 Comments

The Highway Boondoggles Report

Frontier Group’s Tony Dutzik comes onto the podcast today to talk about their annual “Highway Boondoggles” report. In light of last year’s infrastructure bill, just how much funding is being wasted on highway expansion?

Podcast, Marohn, Top StoryStrong TownsOctober 24, 2022podcast, highways, highway spending, freeway widening, freeways, transportation, infrastructure, infrastructure cost, end highway expansion Be the First to Comment

That's Not an Improvement

Engineers who work on municipal infrastructure need to stop ubiquitously describing their projects as “improvements”—especially when the project is actually harmful, not helpful.