Residents Call for Highway Removal in Seattle Neighborhood

Residents of Seattle's South Park neighborhood are calling on the state to remove a stretch of highway that community members argue creates air and noise pollution and uses valuable urban space that could be developed into housing, parks, or other uses. "More than 90% of South Park residents live near a contaminated site, Superfund project or freight corridor, compared with roughly 60% for the rest of the city." An article by David Kroman describes the efforts of one community advocacy group to pass legislation limiting highway expansion in communities already impacted by them.

"Local communities have, for decades, spoken out about the impacts of highways on where they live. In recent years, researchers have begun to quantify that impact." Washington-based advocacy organization Front and Centered worked with researchers to create a map that illustrates the disparate public health impacts of living in different parts of the state. "When the map was complete, the results were at once shocking and expected. Low-income and diverse communities near highways — in South King County, Tacoma, Yakima — consistently ranked the highest on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 indicating the most risk. South Park is a 10."

According to the article, Front and Centered is promoting legislation that would use the map to evaluate highway expansion proposals and ban road expansion in areas with high risk ratings. Kroman describes the mixed opinions on the part of state legislators, who support attempts to redress the damage done by urban highways but express concern about goods movement, a key industry in Washington state.

In addition to working to get their legislation passed in a future legislative session, Front and Centered leaders hope the state will conduct a feasibility study to assess the potential for removing Highway 99.