CDOT Cancels Highway Expansion Plans
Seairra SheppardMay 24, 2022

 

For years, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) examined and calculated highway expansion plans to unclog I-25 through central Denver. They mulled over deep studies contemplating solutions ranging from extra general-purpose lanes, to congestion management fees at busy times, to new managed or toll lanes, to “braiding” crowded entrances and exit ramps. Just as the time came to act on a final decision, CDOT dropped all expansion plans, stating that the agency had no foreseeable money for widening efforts. 

 

This story, published in The Colorado Sun, states: 

 

“‘CDOT has also determined that the funds do not exist for the widening of I-25 between 6th Avenue and Alameda Avenue and that only relocating the Consolidated Main Line off I-25 must be studied,’ according to a letter from transportation department director Shoshana Lew. The letter was included in April commissioner study materials.”

 

“I think people are starting to understand that these highways are really city killers,” said transportation analyst Matt Frommer to the Colorado Sun. “And we’re trying to build a more livable city. So I’m glad we’re leaving the capacity as is and hopefully using the $1.5 billion for other good stuff.”

 

MORE:

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2022/5/23/cdot-cancels-highway-expansion-plans

I was impressed with Boston on my recent trip.  I was last here in 2019.  Since then a bunch of new bike lanes have cropped up.  Some are protected, some are not, but it's a lot of progress in a very short time.  Also, there have been road diets in some areas like the North End.  

 

The subway is even cleaner, and throughout the day MBTA has "ambassadors" at each downtown stop to help riders unfamiliar with the system, and I used them on at least a few occasions.  We had exactly 3 car trips during the week we were there: to get to and from the airport (water taxi doesn't go there on the weekends, and the Silver Line, which is a bus, takes 3 times as long as a cab), and an Uber to get back downtown after visiting a friend in Newton (we took the Green Line out, but it was very late when we came back).  

 

Now, if they had only connected North and South stations when they did The Big Dig.  Speaking of which, as much criticism as it received at the time, it was the right thing to do.  It replaced a double-deck highway that cut the city off from the waterfront.  The amount of development and overall economic activity that has happened on and near the waterfront since has probably paid for it.   Of course, now that Boston Harbor is one of the cleanest in the world helps too.  A lot of money was spent to upgrade the city sewage system and clean up the harbor.  

I love Boston. There are only a few cities in America that remind me of Europe (minus the medieval core) and Boston is one of them (so are Quebec, Newport, Annapolis and Charleston, SC).

 

Anyway, my reason for coming here...

 

 

Awesome 

 

In the early 1960s, Japan also considered the American fly-drive-only approach to transportation. They built bullet trains instead (with the help of American loan)...

 

Getting ready for my annual Boston trip. Yes that town knows how to do it. Plus they have the money, educated populace and clout to do pretty much what they want.

 

Side note: My friends there are telling me to move to Boston now before the political sh*t hits the fan. They tell me Ohio is getting more backward by the year and unfortunately I can't argue with them.

Great mayor, parks, tech jobs, student population, cigar shops. 

 

Horrible roads and cost of living.

 

A bit like San Diego.

I'm trying to convince my wife to move to Burlington Vermont. It's almost Canada and yet I don't have to deal with any of the the visa crap but you have to deal with to move to another country. And if we have to flee to Canada we can take a nighttime boat on Lake Champlain.

 

Meanwhile, here's a suggestion for GCRTA and Cleveland's Public Square...

 

 

On 7/2/2022 at 12:21 PM, cadmen said:

Getting ready for my annual Boston trip. Yes that town knows how to do it. Plus they have the money, educated populace and clout to do pretty much what they want.

 

Side note: My friends there are telling me to move to Boston now before the political sh*t hits the fan. They tell me Ohio is getting more backward by the year and unfortunately I can't argue with them.

I'd move to Boston, but I can't because housing is far too expensive.  

 

 

On 7/4/2022 at 4:17 PM, KJP said:

I'm trying to convince my wife to move to Burlington Vermont. It's almost Canada and yet I don't have to deal with any of the the visa crap but you have to deal with to move to another country. And if we have to flee to Canada we can take a nighttime boat on Lake Champlain.

 

Burlington is very nice (from what I've read and heard).  That's a good option. 

Edited July 6, 20222 yr by gildone

54 minutes ago, gildone said:

I'd move to Boston, but I can't because housing is far too expensive.  

 

 

 

I've also considered Worcester because it has frequent MBTA trains to Boston and Springfield because it will soon have east-west train service to Boston and it already has good train service to New York. I think it will get better as the Inland Route is enhanced in response to coastal flooding along the Northeast Corridor.

You are correct gildone about those housing prices in Boston. 

 

20 some years ago I was offered my choice between 2 jobs in research at Mass General. I was given a wonderful tour of the hospital and loved the resources, responsibility and was shown an office overlooking the Charles. At one point I casually asked the woman who would be my boss where she lived. She said she lived many miles away because she couldn't afford to live in Boston. Hmm. If my boss couldn't afford a decent place in the city what could I afford? I've always lived in a nice place here. My home environment contributes to my mood. If I live in a dump I feel dumpy. So I've always lived in a nice place by design. It may have been short sided but I turned her down. I just wasn't willing to go backwards. 

 

Cleveland is NOT the best place to live but for a number of reasons it is for me. I have lived in Europe and Israel. I've traveled to every continent. Europe blows away anything we have in the States but for some reason I keep returning to Cleveland. It gets under your skin and for me it will always be home. My biggest frustration with this town (other than the crappy weather) is we could be so much more than we are. There is a world of potential here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, KJP said:

 

I've also considered Worcester because it has frequent MBTA trains to Boston and Springfield because it will soon have east-west train service to Boston and it already has good train service to New York. I think it will get better as the Inland Route is enhanced in response to coastal flooding along the Northeast Corridor.

How do housing prices compare?  

11 hours ago, cadmen said:

Cleveland is NOT the best place to live but for a number of reasons it is for me

I  understand.  There are a lot of good things about this area, even though it falls short in some key areas.  There is a long way to go, but it's a lot better than it was 30 and 40 years ago.  And things continue to get better, albeit slowly, and in spite of the backwardness of state gov't.  

54 minutes ago, gildone said:

How do housing prices compare?  

 

Getting pricey in Worcester but still affordable in Springfield. 

 

 

On 7/6/2022 at 10:51 AM, KJP said:

 

I've also considered Worcester because it has frequent MBTA trains to Boston and Springfield because it will soon have east-west train service to Boston and it already has good train service to New York. I think it will get better as the Inland Route is enhanced in response to coastal flooding along the Northeast Corridor.

Worcester would be a much better option than Springfield - the latter is just too far from Boston. But all of eastern Mass is insanely expensive. Home prices have increased by more than 50% in the seven years since we left. 
 

If anyone is seriously considering a move to eastern MA, feel free to hit me up with questions. I lived near Boston for a decade. 

 

Bollards are great. Retractable bollards are even better. 
 

 

^For all things bollards, this is the Twitter account to follow. 

 

A sad lesson from a street whose design permits speeds this high

 

Hey @GISguy do you think we could get away with this on Chester?

 

2 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

Hey @GISguy do you think we could get away with this on Chester?

 

 

I wish we could do that, but Cleveland puts the street parking next to the curb forcing cars to cross bike lanes to park.

8 hours ago, Mendo said:

 

I wish we could do that, but Cleveland puts the street parking next to the curb forcing cars to cross bike lanes to park.

I've had my eye out for lanes that have no parking and no driveways. There's a handful of opportunities around me in OB, and some of the newer pave jobs are similar. It's definitely possible if you're strategic about it.

 

Needless to say I've given this a lot of thought lately hah. 

Wonderful feature on the investment in roundabouts in Carmel, Indiana:

 

Love this! Simple improvements making a big difference 

 

6 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

Wonderful feature on the investment in roundabouts in Carmel, Indiana:

 

 

Ugh.  Terrible for bikers/pedestrians. 

2 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

 

Ugh.  Terrible for bikers/pedestrians. 

Slowing cars down is good for pedestrians. 

Sorry, meant the actual roundabout.  Carmel's aren't really pedestrian-friendly, unlike the Euro-counterparts. 

 

 

It would be amazing to bring this idea to Cleveland libraries. 

 

This whole thread is great - a bunch of real examples about right-sizing city equipment (eg fire trucks) such that roads and access points don’t have to be unnecessary and expensively overbuilt. 

 

More protected bike lanes coming to Boston. 

 

now if we could only get some of these idiots off the sidewalks too, New York might actually become somewhat livable again

 

 

Cargo bike level up (video)

 

 

Nice bike garage

 

While I was in Tel Aviv I took some pictures of various different bike midways I found there. I think Cleveland would be wise to take some inspiration from these for the planned Superior Midway.

 

One thing that isn't evident from these pictures is that the share bikes/scooters are restricted to parking in a few locations generally close to these midways. This prevented the scooters from being just strewn all over the city.

 

Other points to draw attention to, dense tree cover (in a much drier climate), occasional shops, frequently separate bike/walk ways, and benches for sitting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 20222 yr by Ethan

I was in Tel Aviv less than a month ago and was very impressed by the city-wide bike infrastructure.  Ben Tsiyon and Rothschild were great biking boulevards.

Here’s that data link:

http://data-mobility.irisnet.be/home/fr/publications/documents-telecharger-moniteur-de-la-mobilite-et-de-la-securite/
 

Who's killing who? There is no 'War on Cars'. But there is an ongoing massacre on all other road users.

 

 

These things are adorable and awesome

 

a study to reimagine the cross bronx --

 

NYC launches $2 million study to ‘reimagine’ the Cross-Bronx Expressway

 

 

New York City and the state are launching a study to “reimagine” the Cross-Bronx Expressway, which has long been decried by critics as an exemplar of environmental racism, with public discussion scheduled to begin as soon as February.

 

Constructed mostly in the 1950s and ‘60s as a brainchild of controversial city planner Robert Moses, the highway displaced some 40,000 residents. Since then, diesel truck traffic on the often-clogged roadway has been linked to higher air pollution nearby and some of the highest asthma rates in the country.

"We are going to push back on what Robert Moses did. He got his way then, but he's not getting his way now."
-- Mayor Eric Adams

more:
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-launches-2-million-study-to-reimagine-the-cross-bronx-expressway

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2022/12/19/cross-bronx-expressway-study

 

Per the EPA, elevated levels of pollutants travel, at most, 500-600 feet from an expressway, and mostly in the downwind direction:

https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-11/documents/420f14044_0.pdf

 

In that same report:

-The EPA estimates that 45 million Americans live, work, or attend school within 300 feet of a major roadway or railway that has elevated pollution.  Yet the Cross-Bronx looms large because of its dramatic setting - nevermind that most of NYC's population is exposed to very similar levels of air pollution at work, school, and at home.  

-The EPA asserts that modern cars and trucks produce 90% less pollution than vehicles did 30 years ago

-Modern HVAC systems can remove almost all pollutants from interior air

 

So...just pay to retrofit buildings within a block of the highway with modern HVAC and be done with it.  

Bike lane street sweeper:

 

On 12/28/2022 at 11:16 AM, Lazarus said:

Per the EPA, elevated levels of pollutants travel, at most, 500-600 feet from an expressway, and mostly in the downwind direction:

https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-11/documents/420f14044_0.pdf

 

In that same report:

-The EPA estimates that 45 million Americans live, work, or attend school within 300 feet of a major roadway or railway that has elevated pollution.  Yet the Cross-Bronx looms large because of its dramatic setting - nevermind that most of NYC's population is exposed to very similar levels of air pollution at work, school, and at home.  

-The EPA asserts that modern cars and trucks produce 90% less pollution than vehicles did 30 years ago

-Modern HVAC systems can remove almost all pollutants from interior air

 

So...just pay to retrofit buildings within a block of the highway with modern HVAC and be done with it.  

 

 

as someone who often worked directly around the reeking cross bronx for many years i would disagree with calling it an expressway. due to the gwb its a parking lot much of the day lol.

 

anyway, as the article noted they have been advocating for a study for many years because they want to look at caps to put the broken up neighborhoods back together.

 

of course cap costs are a whole other ballgame, but you have to know whats possible first.

 

This is extremely encouraging. 

 

I particularly enjoyed the underwater skylights. Correction: they are just fancy lamps.

 

Edited March 2, 20232 yr by Boomerang_Brian
correction

29 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

I particularly enjoyed the underwater skylights. 

 

 

If one of them cracks or fails though.....