Improvements? Isn't That an Opinion?

I posted this picture previously, but I got to thinking about it again, though this time from a different perspective. The sign says Lyons Mill Road Improvements. I've been watching the changes over the past few months. Traffic is terrible. Many home owners have lost 50-75% of their front yards due to the road-widening. Dozens of trees have been cut down. This is an improvement?

I've noticed this before on other projects. You can find it in papers such as the Baltimore Business Journal. When a field of trees is torn down and the land is leveled and storm water management is added, this is called "improvement". I understand that they shouldn't be calling it "destruction". That's certainly not good PR. Perhaps they should call it "urbanization". Because I don't really think that's an improvement.