With more evidence pointing to the futility of expanding freeways, the state could take a creative approach to improving travel times and providing additional transportation options.
An article by Megan Banta in The Salt Lake Tribune describes the growing opposition to the widening of Interstate 15 in Salt Lake and Davis counties, with some local residents and advocates including Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall questioning the utility of adding roadway capacity.
DOT projections show that travel times would, in the long term, be reduced or grow by less than they would without road expansion. “But study after study has shown that while widening highways reduces travel times at first, traffic returns as people change their behaviors,” Banta notes. “Meanwhile, Salt Lake City’s west-side residents are continuing to question the wisdom of I-15 expansion at the expense of air quality and possible razing of homes to accommodate the project.”
The Utah Department of Transportation claims its plans to expand Interstate 15 are “part of a comprehensive approach to meeting transportation demand through the year 2050 that includes added capacity to FrontRunner, additional bus service, local and regional roadway improvements and new facilities for those who walk and bike.” Pointing to evidence about induced demand and other ways that expanding freeways often fails to reduce traffic, Banta writes that Utah officials could instead implement congestion pricing and improve transit to give people accessible and reliable options for opting out of their cars.
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