Freeways

‘Reconnecting Communities’ Could Fund Highway Expansions
Applications to the program reveal a pattern of state agencies requesting funds for projects that perpetuate car-centric development with only nominal equity components.

Visualizing Columbus Before Freeways
A new project uses historical records to reconstruct what Columbus neighborhoods looked like before freeways displaced them.

Colorado DOT Defends Highway Maintenance
While the department has canceled some road expansion projects, the agency has no plans to remove highways, calling them the “bread and butter” of the state’s transportation network.

Op-Ed: Michigan Needs a New Transportation Strategy
One writer calls on the state to stop expanding roads and channel funding to projects that support Michigan’s sustainability goals.

Baltimore Seeks Federal Highway Removal Grant
Advocates of highway removal hope the Reconnecting Communities Act will help fund efforts to tear down a freeway that devastated West Baltimore neighborhoods.

Rethinking Highway Expansions
The tide may be turning—albeit slowly—against new road construction and expansion in favor of more climate-friendly alternatives.

‘Highway Boondoggles’ Report Highlights Nation’s Most Wasteful Projects
The bipartisan infrastructure law, which directs massive investments to state transportation projects, could fast-track some of the most destructive highway expansion projects.

‘Freeways Without Futures’ Spotlights Freeway Removal Efforts
Around the country, cities and states are starting to listen to decades-old demands to remove freeways that have displaced and fractured communities.

Atlanta Toll Lane Project Gains Support From Cobb County
The Georgia Department of Transportation is continuing work on an expansion of I-285, claiming the new express lanes could cut travel times by as much as 39 percent.

Freeway Removal Movement Slowly Gains Steam
Although the concept has recently received more national attention thanks in part to the federal Reconnecting Communities Act, cities have shown reluctance to support highway removal projects.

A How-To for ‘Freeway Fighters’
Ten recommendations for effective freeway removal advocacy.

TxDOT Recommends a 10-Lane ‘Infrastructure Grave’ in Dallas
Rather than removing the freeway altogether, which the Texas Department of Transportation calls ‘unfeasible,’ the agency recommends burying the road in a billion-dollar, ten-lane trench through the city’s downtown.

California Senate Committee Kills Freeway Expansion Bill
The proposed legislation would have prohibited new construction in historically underserved areas that often bear the burnt of the negative impacts of freeways.

Why So Many Pedestrians Die on Freeways
Close to one fifth of pedestrian deaths in the United States happen on controlled-access freeways, suggesting a critical need for safety improvements on major roads.

Cost Estimates Go up for Houston Freeway Project
The contentious reconfiguration of Interstate 45 is now estimated to cost $274 million more as the project faces community opposition and a federal investigation.

Detroit Plans Freeway Removal To Spur Economic Development
City and state officials hope the proposal to turn part of I-375 into a walkable boulevard will help bring back businesses and economic vitality to the area.

Houston Interstate Widening Continues To Threaten Communities
The proposed freeway expansion in downtown Houston has faced searing backlash from local residents who see the project as a relic of the era of rampant freeway construction and neighborhood disruption.

How Policymakers Are Grappling With the Racist Legacy of Urban Freeways
In Michigan, the state's Department of Transportation is looking for ways to mitigate the damage caused by decades of urban renewal policies and reconnect neighborhoods cut off from amenities and opportunities by highway projects.

Freeway Intersection at the Heart of Intense Debate in Fort Bend County
The location of a proposed crossing in the fast-growing southwest Houston suburbs could have a significant impact on the area's development.

Santa Monica Offers Affordable Housing to Residents Displaced by Freeway Construction
A new program seeks to make restitution for the damage inflicted on Black communities by highway construction and urban renewal.
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