The Policy and Politics of Highway Expansions

This mixed-methods dissertation explores questions related to the governance landscape and the institutional and political factors that surround highway expansion projects. Highways and highway building are a central contributor to a myriad of environmental and social problems, ranging from local air pollution to global climate change to displacement of homes and businesses. But even as toxic air pollution and climate events batter people around the globe, states like California \u2013 a forerunner in climate and air quality policy \u2013 continue to spend billions of dollars each year to expand highway capacity. This invites questions: what transportation infrastructure is in the plans that aim to reduce transportation emissions, to what degree do actual transportation investments align with these plans, and why does highway expansion receive such a large amount of funding? I investigate the regional transportation planning and programming process as well as power, perception of problems, evaluation of solutions, and policy beliefs among actors in the highway policy arena