Freeway Billboards Drive Traffic Congestion Campaign

American Experiment’s provocative “Twin Cities Traffic Congestion: It’s No Accident” report has sparked debate over the cause and effect of what many see as the metro area’s most pressing problem. For example, the Star Tribune’s coverage was the most read article on the paper’s website for several hours on Tuesday, generating more than 600 comments. 

Twin Cities drivers intuitively know things have gone from bad to worse. In fact, the time metro commuters spend stuck in traffic has quadrupled since 1982. The Center’s report reveals that congestion is no accident, calling out the state agencies behind your daily commute from Hades. Instead of focusing on comprehensive congestion relief, the Met Council and MnDOT pursue policies that make the problem worse.

The Center plans to keep the conversation going throughout the summer with a MNCongestion.com website, radio ads on familiar Twin Cities stations and thousands of bumper stickers. We also just posted the first of several billboards at strategic points on the metro area freeway system.

You can check out our first billboard that went up just today. It’s hard to miss if you’re in the vicinity of 35W and 494. Not only is it placed high above the interstate, chances are you’ll have plenty of time to take it in, given the location in one of the Twin Cities’ worst bottlenecks.