Dead End: Nine Highways Ready for Retirement

The Congress for New Urbanism released its 2025 Freeways Without Futures report, highlighting nine “highly deserving” highway removal campaigns from around the country.

According to CNU, “The campaigns featured in this report illustrate the evolution of the Highways to Boulevards movement and envision reparative infrastructure that reknits communities, addresses the damage caused by these highways, and centers community priorities.”

This year’s nominees include Austin’s Interstate 35, which exacerbated segregation in the urban core when it was built in 1962, replacing a once-vibrant boulevard that served as a community gathering space. Now, the corridor could once again become a civic amenity. “In 2024, the City of Austin received a Reconnecting Communities grant to partially fund the “Our Future 35” project, which would cap portions of I-35 in central Austin with parks and amenities (as of writing, uncertainty at the federal level means receiving the funding is in doubt).”

Other candidates in the report include NY State Routed 33 and 198 in Buffalo, New York; Interstate 980 in Oakland, California; and Interstate 175 in St. Petersburg, Florida, which displaced over 4,000 local residents and severely limited mobility for Southside neighborhoods.