Seattle Neighborhood Calls for Highway Removal

Seattle's South Park neighborhood is joining the growing chorus of voices demanding the removal of urban freeways that have, for decades, divided neighborhoods and cut off communities from city amenities, transportation, and opportunities. According to Agueda Pacheco, a group called Reconnect South Park "not only wants to remove the segment of SR-99 that cuts through the neighborhood, it also wants to create a land trust to ensure the 40 acres it will free up are developed equitably."

Calling the freeway a "monument to redlining," Coté Soerens, who leads the nonprofit Cultivate South Park, says the neighborhood needs more land for community uses. Soerens argues that decommissioning the segment of SR-99 that cuts off South Park from the rest of the city would benefit the many children who live and go to school in Seattle's youngest neighborhood. "The health risks facing South Park residents have long been known — nestled between major highways, industry, and the Duwamish – a superfund site and one of the most polluted areas of the country — life expectancy for residents is much less than those of their neighbors," writes Pacheco.

After decades of rampant freeway construction that ripped through low-income neighborhoods across the country, the freeway removal movement is gaining momentum in policy circles, with federal officials now calling for action to "reconnect communities" and reverse the devastation caused by road construction projects.