When state transportation agencies widen a highway, they tend to put out a buzzy press release about all the exciting new “improvements” that are coming to the road, without any mention of how disastrous that “upgrade” will really be for the climate, safety, and equity in our communities. Some of the language they use, though, can be surprisingly hard to spot – unless you’re an advocate in the know.
Inspired by the incredible advocates at the Freeway Fighters Network, here’s a cheatsheet of eight common arguments, distortions, and outright lies that transportation officials use to sell the public on widening streets and roads — and how to debunk them.
Think we missed one? Email kea@streetsblog.org to let us know.
1. ‘We have to widen this road to fight congestion’
Let’s start with the granddaddy of all highway-widening myths: that creating more space for cars will give everyone a little more room to speed up, curing traffic jams even as the …