Resistance from state transportation departments and precarious funding sources mean highway removal projects are few and far between, despite their benefits.

Highway removal: why isn’t it happening in more places? Joe Harrington poses this question in Next City, noting that “The benefits [of removal] for the communities living along highways are obvious: People have experienced health, environmental, economic and mobility harms for the last 70 years. Communities originally displaced lost billions in generational wealth opportunities in the ensuing displacement and residents today continue to bear harm.”
Harrington lists several reasons that highway removal is not more popular yet. These include “sluggish policy responses” at the federal level that have failed to keep up with the data. Even the Reconnecting Communities program, which is specifically aimed at removing highways, has not resulted in many actual removals. According to Harrington, “There’s an urgent need for federal guidance to leverage successful highway removal initiatives, enabling more cities to pursue this transformative approach.”
Highway removal projects are also stymied by an outdated mindset pervasive in state transportation departments. “Their entrenched traffic engineering mindsets, earmarked funding and institutional resistance to change impede efforts to promote alternatives to highways, from Minnesota to Texas.”
For Harrington, “Current procedures and technical practices—built by and for highway projects—need to shift as we focus on restoring divided neighborhoods, advancing our climate resilience and creating equitable cities.”
FULL STORY: It’s time to start removing highways. For real this time

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

Updating LA’s Tree Rules Could Bring More Shade to Underserved Neighborhoods
A new USC study finds that relaxing Los Angeles’ outdated tree planting guidelines could significantly expand urban tree canopy and reduce shade disparities in lower-income neighborhoods, though infrastructure investments are also needed.

California's Canal Solar Projects Aim to Conserve Resources and Expand Clean Energy
California’s Project Nexus has begun generating electricity from solar panels installed over irrigation canals, with researchers and state agencies exploring statewide expansion to conserve water and boost clean energy production.

HHS Staff Cuts Gut Energy Assistance Program
The full staff of a federal program that distributes heating and cooling assistance for low-income families was laid off, jeopardizing the program’s operations.
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