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Do highway widenings reduce congestion?

Author

Listed:
  • Ioulia V Ossokina
  • Jos van Ommeren
  • Henk van Mourik

Abstract

Highway construction occurs nowadays mainly through widening of existing roads rather than building new roads. This article documents that highway widenings considerably reduce congestion in the short run, defined here as 6 years. Using longitudinal microdata from highway detector loops in the Netherlands, we find substantial travel time savings. These savings occur despite strong increases in traffic flow. The welfare benefits in the short run already cover 40% of the widenings’ investment costs. Our article contributes to an explanation why countries invest in roadworks even when the fundamental law of congestion predicts that travel savings disappear in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioulia V Ossokina & Jos van Ommeren & Henk van Mourik, 2023. "Do highway widenings reduce congestion?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 871-900.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:23:y:2023:i:4:p:871-900.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Highway widenings; congestion; traffic flow; welfare effects; economic activity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location
    • R33 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Nonagricultural and Nonresidential Real Estate Markets
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods

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