The Reconnecting Communities Act would provide funding for retrofitting highway infrastructure and reconnecting neighborhoods cut off by road projects.

West Baltimore's notorious "Highway to Nowhere," a project "once intended to connect I-70 to downtown and link it to I-95 and I-83" but stopped due to community opposition, could be revitalized as part of a new federal grant program proposed by U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin. As reported by Ron Cassie in Baltimore Magazine, the Reconnecting Communities Act "would establish a U.S. Department of Transportation grant program as part of President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan and assist communities in removing or retrofitting highway infrastructure that became an obstacle to mobility and economic opportunity."
The highway segment, while never completed, still had the effect of "dividing Black neighborhoods and serving as a stark example of the long history of inequity in infrastructure," according to Senator Van Hollen. The project displaced "more than 970 homes, 60 businesses, and 1,500 local residents." Since the halt of the project, a variety of redevelopment schemes have failed to come to fruition. The Red Line, a proposal to build a light rail line on the highway's median, was nixed by Governor Larry Hogan in 2015.
In 2018, "the Urban Land Institute—on behalf of the Baltimore Development Corporation—put together a report that suggested increased pedestrian infrastructure, more accessible green spaces and parks, and a retail hub and grocery store for the area could bridge the neighborhoods on each side of the highway. That study also suggested maintaining a 20-foot corridor in case the Red Line, or another mass transit project, is revived."
Mayor Brandon Scott praised the bill as a step toward "building a better Baltimore that eliminates concrete barriers to economic mobility and opportunity."
FULL STORY: Federal Lawmakers, City Officials Want Funding to End ‘Highway to Nowhere’

The Surprising Oil Tax in the Inflation Reduction Act
President Biden has made reducing gas prices paramount in his administration, so it was likely a surprise to hear a Republican senator last Sunday warn TV viewers that a revived and increased oil fee in the climate bill will increase their gas costs.

The Tide Has Turned Against Open Streets
Once a promising development for advocates pushing for a less car-centric future in cities, the open streets movement has ceded significant ground to cars since the height of the pandemic.

San Antonio Office Tower To Become Residential
With the building more than half vacant, the new owners of the Tower Life Building plan to convert the historic tower into residences that could include affordable housing.

Department of the Interior Forced to Intervene on the Colorado River
More questions than answers on the Colorado River this week as the federal government failed to deliver on threats to force Southwest states to cut back on water use.

Explaining Rent Inflation
The delayed effects of changes in rent costs make rent inflation a difficult figure to pin down.

Dallas Names 66-Mile Bike and Walking Trail
When complete, the newly named DFW Discovery Trail will incorporate 50 miles of existing trails into a regional ‘super highway.’
San Francisco County Transportation Authority
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Cohousing Association of the US
City of Crystal River
Sun City Center Community Association, Inc
City of Mesa
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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