Our region’s road building isn’t reducing traffic. In fact, it’s fueling more spread-out development (sprawl) and even more driving and traffic. The regional long-range transportation plan includes 900 more lane-miles in proposed road expansion!
But you have a chance now to speak out against wasteful road expansion and FOR smart growth, with better transit, safer streets for walking and biking, and also better maintaining the roads we’ve already built to handle climate change. With so much at stake, including our regional goals for climate, equity, safety and reducing sprawl, your voice is critical.
The Transportation Planning Board (TPB) is accepting public comment on the projects that should go into the region’s long-range plan Visualize 2050. Their survey form allows comments on individual projects and general comments, which we encourage you to make. To help you fill out TPB’s survey, we have provided our recommendations and background on projects to support or oppose, for projects missing from their list, and general comments.
We hope you will take the time to comment because the future of our communities, our region, and our climate are at stake. We can’t afford to spend almost $30 billion on yet another round of highway expansion when we need to invest in transit and a more sustainable way to grow.
With your help, we have pushed the TPB to adopt a strong greenhouse gas reduction goal for transportation and the Council of Governments to commit to focusing 75% of new jobs and housing near high-capacity transit and walkable activity centers. Their next transportation plan must be focused on meeting these promised goals.
Want to learn more about what’s at stake? Check out our 48 group sign-on letter in 2022 to the TPB.