Hi all,
Here is what is being said about freeway fighting this week. If you come across any articles, feel free to share and please let me know if you have any questions.
Tomorrow (November 1) is the last day to nominate a highway for the ninth biannual Freeways Without Futures report! For campaigns that have graduated from FWF nominee or have received Reconnecting Communities financing, please submit updates.
A technical issue prevented last week’s Digest from being sent so enjoy two weeks of Freeway Fighters news:
Freeway Fighters News
Capping Cross Bronx Expressway would bring more parks to polluted borough, report finds
Gothamist October 18, 2024
Stretches of the Cross Bronx Expressway could be capped for $2 billion per location, transportation officials announced on Wednesday, giving early support to what would be an ambitious, transformative project.
Houston group against I-45 North expansion project says thousands of homes, hundreds of …
Click2Houston October 18, 2024
The Texas Department of Transportation broke ground on its $13 billion I-45 North Houston Highway Improvement Project on Wednesday, but not everyone was excited about the new development.
Why widening highways doesn’t reduce traffic congestion
Yale Climate Connections October 18, 2024
California prides itself on its climate leadership.
ODOT Denied $750 Million Federal Grant for Rose Quarter Expansion
Portland Mercury October 19, 2024
Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) officials say the state transportation department didn’t receive a coveted $750 million federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant it hoped would help fund its plan to expand and cap I-5 through Portland’s Rose Quarter.
Houston highway project protestors insulted by mayor’s comment
Chron October 19, 2024
The Texas Department of Transportation went all out this week celebrating the start of construction of the first part of the controversial I-45 expansion project.
Reconnecting Communities: So Are We There Yet?
Streetsblog NYC October 21, 2024
Want to fix the racist legacy of America’s highways? One rule of thumb applies: Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Pacific Northwest’s Largest Highway Project Ever Is in Deep Denial
The Urbanist October 22, 2024
Proponents of widening I-5 and replacing the Columbia River bridge are ignoring induced demand, creating faulty traffic models that obscure environmental impacts.
Transportation Policy Gets Left Behind in Presidential Race
Bloomberg.com October 22, 2024
In 2019, two Kentucky regions applied for federal transportation grants.
The Stitch: New rendering released of park to reconnect communities split by downtown connector
WSB-TV October 24, 2024
The City of Atlanta took one step closer in one of the biggest projects the city has ever seen.
Fresh visuals, details emerge for Stitch highway-capping project
Urbanize Atlanta October 24, 2024
Project leaders behind the only highway-capping proposal left on the table in downtown and Midtown revealed today new insights into how the ambitious, multi-phase project could look, function, and be paid for.
The Metro: How capping I-75 could reconnect communities
WDET 101.9 FM October 26, 2024
In the 1940s, Detroit, like many communities across the country, saw the highway system tear through Black neighborhoods. It disrupted the way of life where new music, foods and culture thrived.
San Antonio seeks to reconnect East Side and downtown, breach barrier of I-37
San Antonio Express-News October 26, 2024
When Interstate 37 ripped through downtown San Antonio in the 1960s, it effectively walled off the East Side from the center city and displaced hundreds of residents.
The People Behind America’s Game-Changing Local Infrastructure Grants
Streetsblog USA October 28, 2024
The Biden Administration unlocked unprecedented opportunities for local leaders to build transportation infrastructure without their state governments getting involved — if they could beat out the competition.
How America’s Mayors Are Fighting Back Against Harmful Highways
Streetsblog USA October 29, 2024
Highways and other federal transportation investments have destroyed neighborhoods of color across America, even as the current presidential administration attempts to heal those wounds through grants like the Reconnecting Communities Program.
USDOT Denies Portland Freeway Expansion Grant
Planetizen October 29, 2024
“The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has rejected the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) request for $750 million in funding for the Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion,” according to an article in Roads & Bridges, signaling a shift away from highway expansion as the norm in transportation planning.
Critics Say Alabama’s $5 Billion Highway Project Is a ‘Road to Nowhere’, but the State Is …
Inside Climate News October 29, 2024
Driving north on Alabama Highway 79 in late October offers a stunning vista of the rolling Appalachian foothills.
I-75 could get 3 ‘lids’ along downtown Detroit freeway
Crain’s Detroit Business October 30, 2024
One or more “lids” on I-75 in downtown Detroit could offer a small outdoor event venue, walking trails, pop-up retail, farmers market space and more, project organizers said Tuesday evening.
Largest I-35 expansion kicks off amid protests in Austin
KUT.org October 31, 2024
The largest-ever expansion of Interstate 35 through Central Austin officially kicked off Wednesday as the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) held a groundbreaking ceremony on top of a six-story parking garage at UT Austin’s baseball stadium.
Metro/Caltrans 105 Freeway ExpressLanes Project Would Expand Freeway, Add Pollution
Streetsblog LA October 31, 2024
Tomorrow, Metro’s board will vote on a proposal to expand the 105 Freeway. Metro and Caltrans’ 105 Freeway ExpressLanes project would add more lanes to the entire 17-mile freeway, plus expand ramps and streets connecting to the freeway.
San Francisco’s surprisingly difficult quest to turn a century-old highway into a park
Grist October 31, 2024
On a chilly weekend in mid-September, the wind-blasted dunes of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach loomed over the Great Highway — two lanes that run along the Pacific coast in either direction separated by a median of sand and ice plant succulents.
‘Rethink Coalition’ meets to brainstorm future of interstate highways in downtown Indy
WTHR October 31, 2024
Members of the community came together Tuesday to brainstorm ideas for the future of the interstates in downtown Indianapolis.