Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

Northeast Ohio to State DOT: Road Expansions Getting Out of Hand

If you could point to one aspect of American transportation policy that's more disastrous than all the others, expanding highways and roads to the point of absurdity is probably it.

I-90 in northeast Ohio. Photo: GreenCityBlueLake

In northeast Ohio, cities like Cleveland and Akron were hollowed out by highway building, but the state DOT still privileges road expansion instead of maintenance or investment in transit, biking, and walking. At a recent event, regional transportation leaders asked the state to shift its priorities, reports Marc Lefkowitz at GreenCityBlueLake:

Even though Northeast Ohio’s transportation agency, NOACA spends only 7% of its budget building new roads, Executive Director, Grace Gallucci says, make no mistake; the region is still expanding its roads and highways.

"There’s two billion dollars of transportation funding in Ohio," Gallucci offered at the City Club last week. "We're kidding ourselves if we think capacity isn't being increased."

It is unsustainable, says Gallucci, to maintain the current road system while expanding it further. Slow population growth and lower density development has contributed to an estimated $1.8 billion backlog of road work in the five-county area that NOACA serves.

"There has to be a way that older, slow-growth regions like ours fund road maintenance," Gallucci said. "If I want to go ask for an Opportunity Corridor or $300 million for new capacity, I can. But, if I want $300 million to maintain what we have, there is nowhere I can go."

Gallucci has joined with other heads of metropolitan planning organizations, which are local intermediaries that help direct federal transportation funding, in asking state lawmakers and the Ohio Department of Transportation to carve out a portion of the biggest source of federal funds, the Surface Transportation Program (STP), for maintenance purposes.

Elsewhere on the Streetsblog Network today: The Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog reports that a downtown highway segment might get widened. And Greater Greater Washington plugs the new transit project tracker developed by Yonah Freemark and Steven Vance.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Covina to Begin Construction on Recreation Village

The new facility will be next to the Metrolink station and include a variety of opportunities for fitness and amusement

July 26, 2024

Talking Headways Podcast: Have Cities Run Out of Land?

Chris Redfearn of USC and Anthony Orlando of Cal Poly Pomona on why "pro-business" Texas housing markets are catching up to "pro-regulation" California and what it might mean for future city growth.

July 26, 2024

Friday’s Headlines

Oakland identifies sites for speed camera pilot; E-bike tariffs conflict with US climate policy; Pollution spikes around warehouses, shipping hubs; More

July 26, 2024

What the Heck is Going on with the State E-bike Incentive Program?

The program's launch has been delayed for two years, and currently "there is no specific timeline" for it. Plus the administrator, Pedal Ahead, is getting dragged, but details are vague

July 26, 2024

The Paris Plan for Olympic Traffic? Build More Bike Lanes

A push to make Paris fully bikable for the Olympics is already paying dividends long before the opening ceremonies.

July 25, 2024
See all posts