Freeways
‘Freeways Without Futures’ Spotlights Freeway Removal Efforts
Around the country, cities and states are starting to listen to decades-old demands to remove freeways that have displaced and fractured communities.
Atlanta Toll Lane Project Gains Support From Cobb County
The Georgia Department of Transportation is continuing work on an expansion of I-285, claiming the new express lanes could cut travel times by as much as 39 percent.
Freeway Removal Movement Slowly Gains Steam
Although the concept has recently received more national attention thanks in part to the federal Reconnecting Communities Act, cities have shown reluctance to support highway removal projects.
A How-To for ‘Freeway Fighters’
Ten recommendations for effective freeway removal advocacy.
TxDOT Recommends a 10-Lane ‘Infrastructure Grave’ in Dallas
Rather than removing the freeway altogether, which the Texas Department of Transportation calls ‘unfeasible,’ the agency recommends burying the road in a billion-dollar, ten-lane trench through the city’s downtown.
California Senate Committee Kills Freeway Expansion Bill
The proposed legislation would have prohibited new construction in historically underserved areas that often bear the burnt of the negative impacts of freeways.
Why So Many Pedestrians Die on Freeways
Close to one fifth of pedestrian deaths in the United States happen on controlled-access freeways, suggesting a critical need for safety improvements on major roads.
Cost Estimates Go up for Houston Freeway Project
The contentious reconfiguration of Interstate 45 is now estimated to cost $274 million more as the project faces community opposition and a federal investigation.
Detroit Plans Freeway Removal To Spur Economic Development
City and state officials hope the proposal to turn part of I-375 into a walkable boulevard will help bring back businesses and economic vitality to the area.
Houston Interstate Widening Continues To Threaten Communities
The proposed freeway expansion in downtown Houston has faced searing backlash from local residents who see the project as a relic of the era of rampant freeway construction and neighborhood disruption.
How Policymakers Are Grappling With the Racist Legacy of Urban Freeways
In Michigan, the state's Department of Transportation is looking for ways to mitigate the damage caused by decades of urban renewal policies and reconnect neighborhoods cut off from amenities and opportunities by highway projects.
Freeway Intersection at the Heart of Intense Debate in Fort Bend County
The location of a proposed crossing in the fast-growing southwest Houston suburbs could have a significant impact on the area's development.
Santa Monica Offers Affordable Housing to Residents Displaced by Freeway Construction
A new program seeks to make restitution for the damage inflicted on Black communities by highway construction and urban renewal.
Seattle Neighborhood Calls for Highway Removal
South Park becomes the latest community to call for the removal of a highway segment that has cut off the neighborhood from local amenities for decades.
How Federal Funds Can Benefit Freeway Removal Projects
The recently passed infrastructure bill dedicates $1 billion to freeway removal and capping, but the sum is only a 'first step' toward redressing the injustices perpetuated by urban highway projects.
Contentious Houston Freeway Widening Project Inches Forward
Federal officials have given TxDOT the go-ahead to resume work on a small portion of a controversial interstate widening project in downtown Houston.
Freeway Expansions Continue to Threaten Black and Brown Communities
Despite calls to center equity in infrastructure projects, highway construction and expansion still disproportionately impacts communities of color, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation.
New Interchange Planned Along Pennsylvania Turnpike
Local leaders hope the new interchange will invigorate economic development in the area by providing easier access to the turnpike.
Coupling Housing and Mobility: A Radical Rethink for Freeways
An ambitious vision for freeways: intersections with dense, tall buildings and rights of way repurposed for high-speed, high-capacity public transit.
How Albany Can Reclaim Its Waterfront From a Bad Highway
Finding full-scale highway removal nearly impossible, advocates in the New York state capital turn to creative workarounds to reconnect the city to the Hudson River.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
