Highway expansion and impacts on land use changes: An event study approach.

• The paper investigates the impact of highway extension on new building construction. • The investigation focuses on a project that aims to limit land use change. • The infrastructure increases the probability of construction on surrounding parcels. • The impact is spatially concentrated around the access ramp and along the highway. Despite its impact on both sprawl and carbon emissions, developing or expanding highway infrastructure remains the object of strong political support. Highway access provides important advantages for firms and households, generating powerful incentives to develop new built areas through the conversion of vacant land. Based on the case study of the expansion of Highway 30 on Montréal's South Shore region between 2000 and 2019, this paper investigates how new highway infrastructure impacts the construction of new industrial and commercial buildings on individual parcels. Using a panel dataset, an event study model is developed to estimate the impact of the proximity to highway access ramps on the probability of construction. Results show that highway infrastructure increases the probability of construction of new industrial and commercial buildings, even if public authorities aim to limit such possibilities by legal constraints and laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]