Freeway Removal

Dallas Freeway Removal

The Freeway Removal Cause Gains Momentum—But Don't Forget Gentrification and Displacement

The case for freeway in urban areas isn't as unequivocal as it might seem. Plans to undo the damage of the legacies of past freeway planning need to ensure an inclusive future.

July 14, 2021 - Los Angeles Times

Williamsburg Bridge

15 of the 'Worst Highways in America'

The Congress for the New Urbanism's "Freeways Without Future 2021" report leverages the current political moment by spotlighting 15 U.S highways for removal.

June 15, 2021 - CNU Public Square

Bonaventure Expressway

How Highway Removal Can Benefit Cities

Cities across the country are reevaluating the impacts of major highway on neighborhoods and looking for ways to revitalize and reconnect communities.

June 1, 2021 - The New York Times

Tokyo Expressway

Tokyo Expressway to Become a Linear Park

A major expressway in Ginza will be converted to a park similar to New York City's High Line.

April 15, 2021 - Japan Property Central

Interstate 84

Undoing the Destructive Legacy of Hartford's Interstates

A new plan would spend an estimated $17 billion to remove a huge chunk of the Interstate Highway System's footprint in Hartford, Connecticut.

March 26, 2021 - The CT Mirror

Dallas Freeway Removal

Reimagining the Urban Freeway

With the new administration placing racial justice and equity at the forefront of transportation policy, will America finally reckon with the legacy of its freeways?

February 11, 2021 - Common Edge

Embarcadero

Economic Justice Includes Highway Removals

A $435 billion "economic justice" bill proposed by Democrats in the U.S. Senate includes $10 billion for projects that remove highways and build community-oriented assets in their place.

January 13, 2021 - Streetsblog USA

Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

Shrinking Highways: Could the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Be the First?

Highways have been razed, replaced with boulevards, and streets have been placed on road diets, but what about lane reductions on interstate highways? That's one recommendation in a report released Thursday by a panel of experts on the BQE.

February 3, 2020 - The New York Times

New Orleans Freeway

Ten 'Freeways Without Futures'

The Congress for New Urbanism has once again released on if its signature efforts: the Freeways Without Futures report that assumes urban freeways were a mistake of 20th century planning and engineering and advocates for a new approach.

April 3, 2019 - Congress for the New Urbanism

Downtown Detroit

Downtown Expressway's Days Are Numbered in Detroit

Detroit will soon join the ranks of cities that have ripped out high-speed freeways from their urban core.

December 5, 2017 - Detroit Free Press

Cars

A New List of Potential Freeway Removals Emerges

The Scajaquada Expressway in Buffalo is among a slew of potential freeway removals nationwide.

November 9, 2017 - The New York Times

Robert Moses Parkway

$3.5 Million Awarded to Further the Demise of the Robert Moses Parkway

The state of New York this week took another step toward removing two miles of the Niagara Scenic Parkway (formerly known as the Robert Moses Parkway).

December 22, 2016 - Governor Andrew M Cuomo

Syracuse, New York

Options Narrowed for Interstate 81 Replacement Through Syracuse

The plan to replace the Interstate 81 elevated highway through Syracuse, NY is now down to two options after the New York DOT nixed the tunnel plan.

October 19, 2016 - The Post-Standard

Rochester Inner Loop

The End of a Urban Freeway—and an Era of Planning—in Rochester, New York

A project to fill-in the Inner Loop in Rochester, New York is underway. It took a lot of contemporary planning to undo this mistake of mid-century planning.

October 11, 2016 - CityLab

Freeway Construction

Feds Lend Support to Freeway Removal

Communities divided by freeways for decades are now looking to reconnect, and the U.S. Department of Transportation is stepping in to offer support.

August 10, 2016 - Car and Driver

Carfree Freeway

Righting Old Wrongs: U.S. DOT Goes from Urban Renewal to Freeway Removal

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx sees rebuilding America's ailing infrastructure as an opportunity to "right past wrongs," particularly with 1950s and 1960s-era freeways that bisected communities. NPR and Streetsblog describe the new initiative.

April 30, 2016 - NPR

Embarcadero

Urban Revitalization Through Highway Teardowns

Alana Semuels, staff writer for The Atlantic, examines highway teardowns beginning with the San Francisco Embarcadero in 1989 to see how they have worked in terms of revitalizing poorer areas or restoring the urban fabric that they destroyed.

November 29, 2015 - The Atlantic

Downtown Oakland

To Connect Oakland—Remove the I-980 Freeway

A grassroots, ambitious vision called Connect Oakland is gaining steam in the East Bay city. The key element of the plan's ambition: replacing the I-980 Freeway with an urban boulevard and new housing.

November 17, 2015 - San Francisco Chronicle

Vancouver Votes to Remove Downtown Viaducts; Obstacles Remain

The Vancouver City Council took a major step forward this week with an idea that it's been mulling for years: to tear down the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts located in the city's downtown.

October 29, 2015 - CBC News

Calling for the Removal of Houston's Pierce Elevated Freeway

Houston's Pierce Elevated, a section of the I-45 freeway, is the latest target in the movement to remove urban freeways.

September 24, 2015 - The Urban Edge

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.