Day Hiker wrote:They protested and delayed the widening of a limited-access highway inside an urban area. So meanwhile, more commuters just sat in 15-mph traffic, wasting more time and fuel.
I'm not taking a position regarding what SC did, but there is a correlation between highway improvements and urban sprawl, even if the improvements are in an existing urban area. This is because the total amount of time for travelling from outlying "Sprawl" areas to the city is reduced. For example, if you reduce the driving time between Jersey City to Manhatten by half, that means further west in the exurbs of New Jersey residents' commute times for driving to Manhattan have also improved significantly. This makes properties in the exurbs more desirable, and makes developing residential properties more attractive to investors.
A way to stop sprawl without making traffic bad for the central city and without limiting land supplies legislatively would be to charge tolls for highways leading to the city.