The Interstate construction mission is complete.
By Trevor Roark
Executive Director
“This is the wrong fight. Or, more precisely, it is a fight designed for us to lose slowly.”
I’ve been following and learning from Strong Towns for a while now, since 2015, to be exact. Chuck Marohn came to speak at UW-Stevens Point that year, and I, being a new-ish active transportation advocate at the time, was ready to listen!
Chuck explained how cities around the country are going broke due to their continued outward growth. As development shifts away from downtowns (commonly known as sprawl), communities often fail to account for the long-term costs and infrastructure needed to support that growth, including roads and utilities.
The insights he provided were newer concepts to me at the time, shifting my volunteer focus to set a new course for land use advocacy.
Chuck’s message is clear and compelling. Our country needs to shift away from the traditional federal transportation program to a new model where advocates aren’t required to fight over table scraps. He goes even further to claim that construction on our interstate system was finished decades ago – in other words, “mission accomplished.”
We understand firsthand, as transportation equity advocates at 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, how our historic battles against highway/freeway expansion could have played out differently, more wholistically, and with a different federal funding calculation and better stewardship. With that, we welcome the new paradigm Strong Towns is pushing and will continue to advocate for and educate around people-centered transportation systems.