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Interesting movie which has had little publicity. Gibson and director pulled support. See below. Development of the Oxford Dictionary

The D.C. region could be suffocated by even more traffic if major improvements to the region’s bus system do not come soon, a draft report obtained by WTOP finds. Even so, making those changes in a way that avoids negative impacts could be extremely challenging. The Washington Area Bus Transformation Project draft strategy’s executive summary, labeled “not for circulation,” paints a dire picture of what happens if bus-only lanes, totally revamped bus routes and other changes are not implemented: “Without transforming the bus system, the region’s competitiveness and livability are at risk.” The report groups more than two dozen recommendations...

After roaming around and studying downtown for a week, the Urban Land Institute’s advisory services panel provided Atlanta leaders with recommendations on how to move forward with the colossal proposed “Stitch” project. On Friday, ULI, which conducts land use research for cities around the globe, suggested the time is now to partner with local elected officials and philanthropic organizations to get the ball rolling on fundraising efforts for the potentially 14-acre project that would install a massive park and new construction above the Downtown Connector. But in order to be competitive for public and private funding—panelists expect the highway-capping project...

OLYMPIA — A plan for raising billions of dollars to build new bridges, widen old highways and open up fish passages will get its first public review this week. And, depending on the response, it could be its last. Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, has drawn up a 10-year, $16.3 billion package of transportation improvements financed largely with a 6-cent hike in the gas tax and new fees on carbon emissions and development. Hobbs, who is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, calculates that much money is needed to cover the cost of removing state-owned culverts to improve fish passages,...

The Utah Transportation Commission on Friday approved spending an extra $38 million to cover rising costs for two major upcoming highway projects — on Interstate 15 and Bangerter Highway in Salt Lake County. The increased expenses are caused in part by rising prices to buy and demolish homes and businesses to clear new rights of way. That includes an extra $23 million for a project to convert three more intersections on Bangerter Highway into freeway-like interchanges at 6200 South, 10400 South and 12600 South. Construction on those projects is scheduled to begin in 2020, but purchasing the needed rights of...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- If a "community grid" is chosen to replace Interstate 81 in downtown Syracuse, what will happen to the land that's now under the aging viaduct's shadow? Whether it will be turned into green space or developed commercially is still an open question, according to city and state officials. A group of local architects is hoping to force the issue. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects estimated in a recent paper that 18.6 acres of land will be made available if the 1.4-mile elevated highway is taken down. Taking the viaduct down and beefing up...

By Bruce DePuyt — When Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced a major plan to widen three Maryland roadways last year, even transportation insiders were caught off-guard. “I was surprised by it, but I rejoiced at it,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government affairs. “As much as people are loath to admit it, the congestion in Maryland has limited economic development in the state. And [it has] impacted the quality of life because of the amount of hours — more than 80 hours a year [on average] — we spend being stuck in...

If Elon Musk’s Boring Company succeeds, the fantasy of slipping into a pod and being whisked from Washington, D.C. to New York City in less than 30 minutes may become a reality. As startling as that might be, such transformational projects are nothing new. Think of how Americans of a half-century ago felt once the national interstate highway system was complete and a cross-country road trip shortened from two weeks to five days. Infrastructure improvements in the U.S. – such as the interstate system, built in the 1950s and 1960s, the first transcontinental railway in the 1860s, and the Erie...

On the Problem of Arrested Spiritual Development Msgr. Charles Pope • September 4, 2018 • Consider a five-year-old child who had not yet learned to walk or talk, who could only lie in his crib, who could not eat solid food. Most of us would consider this a great tragedy, a case of arrested development. Surely as he failed to pass expected milestones his parents would consult multiple doctors in an anxious search for the cause of the problem and its cure. No one would fail to see the problem or shrug it off.Now, let’s look at a case...

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Tuesday announcement that he won’t seek a third term throws a big unknown into the city’s efforts to score Amazon’s second headquarters, which would be the crowning achievement in a line of corporate wins under his leadership. The city is one of 20 locations in the running for what Amazon has dubbed HQ2, which will bring up to 50,000 high-paying new jobs to the chosen North American location. Amazon has said it will pick a location by year’s end. Emanuel has been hands-on in trying to woo Amazon to Chicago, touting the city’s growing tech sector,...

Family planning advocates are working hard to position contraceptives as the key to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As an event on Tuesday demonstrated, however, their arguments collapse under closer scrutiny. The Wilson Center event was the third in a series focusing on the benefits of family planning for peace and security, societal resilience, and global development. Similar to previous events, the panelists stressed the importance of access to family planning and estimated the cost savings of reductions in fertility, but glossed over how to push more contraceptives in a world approaching market saturation. In a departure from...

Miami-Dade commissioners on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to extending the 836 expressway 14 miles into West Kendall, rejecting warnings about environmental damage and urban sprawl in favor of bringing relief to commuters in the congested suburbs. "We've got to start somewhere," said Commissioner Javier Souto, whose district includes western areas in the county. "Do something. Do something." A final vote awaits later this year, but the 9-2 vote captured what appeared to be broad support for the signature transportation package from Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who cited the toll road's extension as a top priority as he prepares to leave office...

The passing of Bernard Lewis last week at the age of 101 recalls to mind perhaps his most famous book title about the Muslim world, What Went Wrong? But maybe a successor of sorts has been found in Duke University economist Timur Kuran, who has a long article forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Literature that paints a pretty bleak picture of the economic and social structure of Islamic nations. Just check out the abstract of the article, which is bland in language but harsh in its conclusions:

Asia needs more transport infrastructure. More than the state, which finances the lion's share, can fund. So what more can be done to bring in increased private capital, when investors have so far been mostly disappointed by the returns? Is there a way of breathing new life into the public private partnership (PPP), the most common vehicle for private infrastructure investment? We think so. Governments need to offer private sector investors more than they can hope to earn from ticket sales on railways or motorway tolls. They should consider sharing the extra tax revenues generated from the increased economic activity...

The Northgate project that involves constructing an interchange on Interstate 15 north of Pocatello and is expected to trigger a landslide of development simultaneously took one step forward and another backward last week. The Pocatello City Council unanimously approved the annexation of nearly 300 acres of land north of East Chubbuck Road on Thursday, but the Idaho Transportation Department also learned the construction cost of the interchange alone has increased by about $4 million. There has been some speculation that the increased costs could negatively impact the project, but the ITD board is scheduled to meet on Thursday at its...

DENVER (CBS4)– The Colorado Department of Transportation is gearing up for a major project that will change the landscape of Interstate 70 through the central part of Denver. The Central 70 Project will dramatically impact the community from Colorado Boulevard to Brighton Boulevard. The Colorado Department of Transportation is now hiring people who live there. “The Central 70 Project is by itself a major economic driver for the entire Denver-metro region. CDOT wanted to also ensure that these economic and job opportunities were made available to local residents,” said Shailen Bhatt, CDOT Executive Director. “CDOT is one of only a...

This year, America’s overall infrastructure was awarded a D+ grade, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ “Infrastructure Report Card.” Arizona’s infrastructure may be relatively newer by comparison but it is starting to show signs of wear and tear as indicated by the C grade that it received from ASEC. While the state of Arizona’s infrastructure may not be in as dire of shape as other urban areas, the need for new and repaired infrastructure is widely talked about, especially at Valley Partnership. For 30 years now, Valley Partnership has been the rational voice at the table whenever important...

One of Arkansas’ top priorities is finishing Interstate 49 in the western part of the state. A key component of that massive project, which is also massively expensive, is a 13.7-mile stretch near Fort Smith that includes a bridge over the Arkansas River to connect Interstate 40 with Interstate 49, which would then run from south Fort Smith to northwest Arkansas and up through the midsection of the nation. The project’s completion would connect with a 6.5-mile stretch of Interstate 549 that opened in 2015 and hooks up U.S. 71 with Highway 22 in south Fort Smith. The proposed 13.7-mile...

In a fillip to India’s highway development programme, the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved a plan to build thousands of kilometres of roads and highways over the next five years at a cost of about Rs 7 lakh crore, a spending push that could help generate jobs and lift the economy. Announcing the Cabinet decision, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley called this public expenditure on infrastructure projects as “unprecedented” and “something which has not happened in the country till date.” The plan involves constructing 83,677 km of roads, highways, green-field expressways and bridges in...

Is fighting sprawl still a goal for those who decide the fate of transportation funding at the federal, state and local levels?Transportation planning is deeply connected to economic development, but there in any agreement about transportation funding among government leaders often ends.Parag Khanna, a senior public policy analyst in Singapore and author of “Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization,” summarized the political divide over transportation planning like this: “America is increasingly divided not between red states and blue states, but between connected hubs and disconnected backwaters.”But division that stymies transportation planning goes further. Government leaders have always been divided...