Best of 2019: #NoNewRoads Gains Traction in D.C.
If there is such a thing as a bipartisan consensus in today’s polarized America, it’s that we need more infrastructure spending. Just consider the collection of quotes that introduces Chapter 4, “The Infrastructure Cult,” in Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity:
“The point is that perfectly standard, mainstream economics makes a powerful case for much more infrastructure spending. And this needs to be said often.”
“The case for a substantially increased programme of public infrastructure is undeniable.”
“This is America. We’ve always had the best infrastructure.”
“We need once and for all to have a very big infrastructure program.”
“Infrastructure—we’re going to start spending on infrastructure big. Not like we have a choice.”
This consensus is, of course, dead wrong.
The reality is that, all across America, we have built too much unproductive infrastructure: roads, bridges, and pipes that don’t generate nearly enough wealth for us to justify their construction or fund their long-term maintenance. While such spending can provide a short-term economic stimulus, it is dwarfed by the long-term, unsupportable liabilities we accrue. In particular, the story of highways in America over the past few decades has largely been the story of our state DOTs and federal transportation authorities “investing” untold trillions in our ability to live farther away from each other and drive more miles just to do the same things we always did: growing mobility without improving access.
We’d be crazy to continue down this path. And we’d be crazy to accede to it—to treat costly new highways as the price we must pay to get a few bike lanes or BRT projects on the site—the reason Strong Towns has long adopted the rallying cry #NoNewRoads.
The good news is we have more allies in our corner than ever. Chief among them this year was Transportation for America, an affiliate of Smart Growth America and an influential voice on federal transportation policy. T4A took the bold step of announcing in 2019 that they would no longer call for increased infrastructure spending. What’s more, they laid out a bold, smart vision for reforming our infrastructure priorities: we should fund maintenance over new construction, put safety before speed, and prioritize access to the things, like jobs, that people most need to get to.
We’re proud to stand alongside them in calling for this change. And we know important ears are listening, from Capitol Hill to state DOTs to cities and towns all over America.
Here are two posts from 2019, one from Transportation for America’s communications director Stephen Davis, and one from Strong Towns president Charles Marohn, putting the call for no additional spending into context. –Daniel Herriges, Senior Editor.
America’s Infrastructure Priorities Need Repair
by Stephen Lee Davis, Transportation for America
There is one magical phrase deployed every single time the conversation turns to infrastructure funding, intended to capture hearts and minds and convince everyone to turn over just a few more of their hard-earned dollars—always spoken with the confidence of knowing that the cause is just: “To fix our crumbling roads and bridges.”
This rhetoric is also step one in a perpetual bait and switch. One look at the condition of our roadways over the last decade shows that the policymakers in Congress who spent the last decade giving state Departments of Transportation ever more flexibility to spend more federal transportation dollars however they want either got hoodwinked, or they were in on the deal.
Repair Priorities 2019, a new report released today by Transportation for America and Taxpayers for Common Sense, shows that, despite more spending, our roads are still not getting any better.
Listen Up, Washington: No New Roads
by Charles Marohn
One thing that we know for sure is wrong is the way this country spends money on transportation. Whether it’s North Carolina destroying a small town to widen a highway, Louisiana running a new highway through the middle of a neighborhood, or any number of similar crazy projects moving ahead in zombie-like fashion, there is seemingly no end to the destruction being wrought with federal transportation dollars.
And while, sure, there is the occasional sidewalk or bus route that gets a little bit of money, the tradeoff for those crumbs is literally billions in spending on some of the lowest returning, most destructive projects imaginable. We’ve long called for #NoNewRoads — a freeze on all new transportation spending until there is significant reform — and fought against those in the Infrastructure Cult who self-servingly call for for more transportation spending, even when the numbers supporting that call are ridiculous.
Along these lines, last week something really invigorating happened. The advocacy organization Transportation for America — a group full of thoughtful people that I personally like and admire — made a major announcement.
And it’s all kinds of brave too. Like, the principled kind of brave. It’s a lot easier to open doors when you’re aligned with those wanting to spend more. It’s more of a challenge to be the one suggesting we stop and think about things first. This move will make their work more difficult, but more meaningful. We should all admire them for their courage and vision. Read the rest of the article.