Is Your City Stopping Highway Expansion? This Press Template Can Help.
(Source: Pixabay.)
In mid-February, Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, announced that the Canadian government would no longer invest in large road projects.
"There will be no more envelopes from the federal government to enlarge the road network," Guilbeault is quoted as saying. "We can very well achieve our goals of economic, social and human development without more enlargement of the road network."
Predictably, this has drawn pushback from politicians across Canada. The mayor of Calgary, Jyoti Gondek, said that “making that kind of a public statement and not having any rationale behind it is not ministerial.” Some critics have been even less charitable. Even Guilbeault seems to now think that the statement was a gaffe that needed clarification.
At Strong Towns, one of our priority campaigns is to End Highway Expansions. Canada, along with the United States, should be completely done expanding highways and roadway networks. In fact, we should have stopped decades ago. But, as I suggested on Twitter, this announcement should have come from the finance minister, not the environment minister.
This message should be coming from the finance minister, not the environment minister. https://t.co/ikIchX01pc
— Charles Marohn (@clmarohn) February 14, 2024
I’ve prepared a press release that the Canadian Department of Finance should issue. Feel free to use these sentiments to pursue the same outcome in your place. Just copy and paste, then change the names.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT SHIFTING INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING TO FOCUS ON MAINTENANCE, FURTHER SYSTEM EXPANSION INDEFINITELY ON HOLD
Today, the Canadian Department of Finance announces a major shift in the funding and financing of transportation infrastructure throughout the country.
The current state of the nation’s roadways is poor. Without a sustained and committed focus on maintaining our existing inventory of roadways, current conditions are expected to deteriorate further. Poorly maintained roads are a threat to the economic health, employment opportunities, and overall productivity of the Canadian economy.
In response, all roadway expansion projects are hereby put on indefinite hold. This includes all new bridges, interchanges, frontage roads, and all additional lane miles. Any project that has not already been awarded with a signed contract is included in this order.
Transportation agencies are directed to reallocate funding earmarked for expansion to bolstering maintenance activities. This includes reassignment of staff from expansion to maintenance within 90 days of this order. It is critical that Canada’s existing transportation systems be properly maintained.
Further, local transportation agencies seeking federal transportation funds are hereby required to report annually to the Department of Finance on the status of maintenance of transportation infrastructure throughout their jurisdiction. This report will include (a) an inventory of all transportation infrastructure, (b) its current condition, (c) a full life cycle maintenance and replacement schedule, (d) projected annual outlays, (e) identified funding sources, and (f) anticipated gaps in funding.
The Department of Finance will rescind this order, on a case-by-case basis, and allow for system expansion, for agencies that demonstrate the long-term financial viability of their transportation systems. Agencies that have overbuilt and overcommitted their maintenance resources will not be eligible for additional expansion projects.
Exempted from this order are projects that address a safety issue within a municipality where the resulting traffic speed is less than 40 kph (25 mph).
Canadian taxpayers rightly expect that the transportation infrastructure they have paid to build is properly maintained. They also rightly expect that there is a credible long-term plan for its continued maintenance before the system is expanded. This is not a matter of taxing or spending but one of focus. Committing resources to expanding systems when prior commitments on maintenance are ignored is irresponsible governance. It hurts Canadians. Such actions will no longer be supported by federal resources.
This order takes effect immediately.
Charles Marohn—known as “Chuck” to friends and colleagues—is the founder and president of Strong Towns. He is a land use planner and civil engineer with decades of experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of Minnesota.
Marohn is the author of Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (Wiley, 2019) and Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town (Wiley 2021). He hosts the Strong Towns Podcast and is a primary writer for Strong Towns’ web content. He has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America.