Freeway Fighters Digest (week of 3/7)

freewaycreativeWeekly News Digest

Here is what is being said about the Highways to Boulevards movement this week. If you come across any articles, feel free to share and please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Mark your calendars! The March Freeway Fighters meetup will be next Thursday, March 17 at 3pm ET.  If you’re new to the group, come say hello! We’ll also set aside some for updates from the group and talk about the public rollout of the Freeway Fighters website in April and what we all can do to leverage it. Looking forward to seeing many of you there!

March meetup calendar invite: https://calendar.google.com/event?action=TEMPLATE&tmeid=ZnZhZmZsZmM1bG9jYzRmamQzcXZxb2NrOG8gYmNyb3d0aGVyQGNudS5vcmc&tmsrc=bcrowther%40cnu.org

Direct Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86212567771

We also wanted to let you know about an exciting workshop as part of CNU30.Oklahoma City | Resilient Together on March 23-26, 2022. On Friday (3/25), Transform Tulsa will be convening a working session to share and discuss the proposal for the removal of I-244 in Tulsa, OK and return the network impeded by I-244 into a fine-grained grid of walkable, multi-modal streets. At issue is whether or not the removal is the best option and if so, how to avoid displacement and gentrification for local residents. This is a time-limited opportunity to directly influence the future of a major highway removal project.

Highways to Boulevards news

Freeway Lids / Caps / Decks: What They Are, Why We Build Them, and the Ten Best in the US

CityNerd YouTube

This week’s video looks at freeway lids (or freeway caps, “cap and stitches,” or freeway decks, depending what part of the US you live in!).

 

Freeway Lids: The 10 Best Places to Cap Highways and Create Space for Parks and New Development

CityNerd YoutTube

This video expands on a previous video that identified the ten most effective existing freeway lids in the US, this time looking at the ten locations with the greatest potential.

 

‘Rethinking I-94’ project looks to connect people with communities | kare11.com

KARE 11 March 5, 2022

Our Streets Minneapolis has started an online petition to add a boulevard that can be used for bikes and transit, while also reconnecting neighborhoods.

 

Legislature Must Cut Highway Expansion and Protect Transit, Safety, Maintenance Funds …

The Urbanist March 6, 2022

The $16 billion Move Ahead Washington transportation package faces a large funding gap after State House passed a version of the bill Tuesday that cut a controversial exported fuel tax, which had earned the ire of leaders from Oregon and other nearby states but had raised $2 billion in revenue over 15 years.

 

Hochul budget includes $100 million for Inner Loop North fill-in | News – Rochester City Newspaper

Rochester City Newspaper March 8, 2022

Gov. Kathy Hochul has included $100 million in her 2022-23 budget for a proposal to fill in the north section of the Inner Loop, a project Mayor Malik Evans on Monday hailed as one of the greatest development opportunities in modern Rochester history.

 

Tearing Down Highways to Revitalize Communities—and Create Jobs – The American Prospect

The American Prospect March 8, 2022

New projects in Black and brown neighborhoods divided by the mid-century interstate highway push can be job creation engines.

 

Liberating Ourselves from the Legacy of the Highway | Sierra Club

Sierra Club March 10, 2022

In movies, pop songs, and car ads, driving on the highway is often portrayed as a liberating act – the highway a long and isolated stretch of road that symbolizes escape and freedom.