New Orleans will have to do something about its Claiborne Avenue Expressway in the coming decade, because after more than 40 years of service, it has seen better days and needs renovation.
"On the one hand, the city could choose to rebuild its aging structure at a likely cost of tens of millions of dollars. On the other, it could demolish a 2.2-mile stretch of the road, replacing it with a planted boulevard." The decision will make a big difference to the way and citizens move around the city in the future.
"Demolishing the Claiborne Expressway, which runs just north of the French Quarter, could have a real effect in encouraging redevelopment of some of the city's less-wealthy and sometimes forgotten areas," according to Jeffrey Schwartz, founder of a transportation advocacy group called Transport for NOLA and the head of the Broad Community Connections Organization.
"Removing the highway and replacing it with a boulevard would increase travel times for those now using the highway by between three to six minutes, but little else would change for the average driver. For the pedestrian, however, taking the highway out would mean a whole new way of thinking about the urban environment in New Orleans," reports Yonah Freemark.
Read the full story: New Orleans Could Be Up For Radical Change With Removal of Highway
Study: New Orleans sea level rise is at 'point of no return'
Research shows that the city could be surrounded by water by the end of this century.
Amtrak’s Mardi Gras train ‘blows away’ ridership expectations
The line brought back rail service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama for the first time since Hurricane Katrina.
Is New Orleans’ Healthy Homes Ordinance a Hollow Promise?
The Healthy Homes Ordinance is supposed to help fix New Orleans’s deteriorating rental housing stock. But three years in, many “certified habitable” apartments still have leaking roofs, black mold, and dangerous heat. What went wrong?
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Trump is considering data centers on 6 states' public land — some state officials say they had no idea
If the administration approves the proposed projects, data center and data center-related developments will cover 17,600 acres of public land.
After decades of planning, Sacramento gains new light rail station
Trains will arrive every 15 minutes during peak hours and every 30 minutes during non-peak hours.
Massive tunnel-boring machine breaks ground on Gateway Project
The Trump administration revoked funding for the project in October 2025, and then restored it earlier this year.
Airo trainsets begin service on Amtrak Cascades route
The trains feature panoramic windows, complementary wifi and over 300 seats per train set.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello