>There is very little available in the way of concrete study reported on the >relationship between road development and growth patterns (though a good >deal more than there was when we last fought the battle) but there is a >good deal of anecdotal evidence that bypasses and other methods of road >capacity expansions not accompanied by very carefully thought out land-use, >environmental and preservation planning create havoc from their inception >and tend to be self-defeating in the long run, especially in rural areas, >since they seem to be prime proofs of the Fields of Dreams adage "build it >and they will come". > >There is also, by the way, a Federal prohibition against incremental road >expansion without regional planning, but in the Mid-coast region, at least, >neither the MDOT or the Feds seem to be paying too much attention to that. > >Bruce Some pinheads may not be aware of the work in land use study that is being done through the Lincoln Institute. Abstracts of some of their papers can be found at: http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/pubcat.html There are quite a few studies analyzing growth and transportation networks, mostly from a land use perspective. Not much on rural issues such as faced in Bruce's example, mostly focused on urban growth fringes, but there is some work that might have some relevancy. The front page of the site is: http://www.lincolninst.edu/index.html It's worth a browse. There's a lot of very arcane analysis being done. Bruce, I'm assuming you're familiar with their work given your activism and proximity to them in the Northeast; have they not done stuff that has buttressed your anecdotal arguments? ______________________________________________ Dan Becker, Executive Director "What's this? Fan mail Raleigh Historic from some flounder?" Districts Commission - Bullwinkle J. Moose [log in to unmask]