Weekly News Digest for the Highways to Boulevards Movement (week of 1/10)

freewaycreativeWeekly News Digest

Hi all,

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.

To kick off the new year, our January meetup will be a listening session with the USDOT staff that will be implementing the Reconnecting Communities program. They’d like to hear directly from you all the challenges and barriers you’ve faced in your groups and campaigns and what the Reconnecting Communities program would need to do specifically to overcome them. They’re aiming to incorporate some of this feedback into the rules and regulations they draft and these comments on the program have been sent to them directly.

The listening session will take place on Friday, January 21st from 3-3:30pm ET.

Calendar invite: https://calendar.google.com/event?action=TEMPLATE&tmeid=Nm45aHRuYzg2aHIwdGNqbTJrNDhjZ29lZTYgYmNyb3d0aGVyQGNudS5vcmc&tmsrc=bcrowther%40cnu.org

 

Highways to Boulevards

$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill has Greenwood stakeholders eying part of Interstate 244 removal

Tulsa World January 9, 2022

Born in 1935 — just 14 years after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — the longtime staple of the Greenwood District often laments about the northern leg of the Inner Dispersal Loop that wiped out an estimated 3,000 homes and 500 businesses by the time it was erected.

 

Internal memo reveals TxDOT’s latest changes to I-35 expansion plans – Austin MonitorAustin Monitor

Austin Monitor January 11, 2022

Lowering Interstate 35 under more cross streets including Holly Street and Woodland Avenue, increasing the number of pedestrian crossings and reconfiguring downtown frontage roads are among the changes to TxDOT’s I-35 widening project that are outlined in a new internal memo to the mayor and City Council.

 

Freeway fighter: A vision to replace I-35 in Duluth gains momentum

MPRnews January 11, 2022

One day nearly five years ago, when Jordan van der Hagen was in college studying landscape architecture, he was walking across the Lake Avenue Bridge in Duluth, where he had a summer internship.

 

I-35 expansion changes proposed – Axios Austin

Axios January 12, 2022

Aiming to ease opposition to its I-35 expansion plans, the Texas Department of Transportation is proposing some project changes.

 

TxDOT releases updated I-35 plans, but some say it won’t resolve congestion – KXAN

KXAN January 12, 2022

Following substantial input from city leaders and community advocates, updated preliminary designs released by the Texas Department of Transportation last week highlighted changes to its $4.9 billion Interstate 35 overhaul project.

 

TxDOT to update I-35 expansion plans with additional safety, mobility features | kvue.com

KVUE January 12, 2022

TxDOT will unveil changes focused on safety and mobility to the $4.9 billion Interstate 35 expansion project at a community meeting later this month.

 

Why won’t a Black neighborhood park in Tampa get a wall to block I-275 noise?

Tampa Bay Times January 12, 2022

Robles Park is a 17-acre patch of greenery amid urbanized Tampa that includes a pond, walking trail, playground, baseball diamond, basketball court and community center.

 

TxDOT reveals updated I-35 expansion plans, but congestion still a concern – CBS Austin

CBS Austin January 13, 2022

The City of Austin and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) have released new design details for the I-35 Capital Express Central expansion project that is expected to break ground within the next few years.

 

A Clarification on Newsom’s Budget Proposal for Active Transportation – Streetsblog California

Streetsblog California January 14, 2022

It seemed at first glance that Governor Newsom was proposing a bigger bump to the Active Transportation Program than he did last year, but upon closer inspection of the budget proposal that turns out not to be true.