What if the United States didn’t just build too many highways—but built a funding machine that makes it hard to stop? We sit down with Erick Guerra, author of Overbuilt: The High Costs and Low Rewards of U.S. Highway Construction, to unpack why capacity keeps growing, congestion doesn’t ease, and budgets bend under the weight of perpetual reconstruction.

We trace the policy DNA from ISTEA through IIJA, showing how well-meaning multimodal language coexists with incentives that still favor widening. Erick explains how “maintenance” often balloons into bigger lanes and interchanges, why induced demand is only part of the congestion story, and how common modeling practices overstate time savings while sidelining external costs like displacement, emissions, and stormwater. The result: urban highways that are wider, costlier, and less effective than promised.

If you care about traffic, climate, safety, or the fiscal health of your city, this conversation offers a clear map for change. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves a good policy debate, and leave a review to help more planners and curious listeners find the show.

Show Notes:

• Further Reading: 
  • Killed by a Traffic Engineer by Wes Marshall 
  • The Drive for Dollars by Brian Taylor, Jeff Morris, and Jeffery Brown
  • Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar
  • City Limits by Megan Kimble
• To view the show transcripts, click on the episode at https://bookedonplanning.buzzsprout.com/

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