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, 7am PST | Diana Ionescu |
In a piece for Common Edge, William Fulton describes a scene that s all too common in many American cities: a dense, walkable downtown, brimming with diverse uses and businesses, sliced through by a massive freeway overpass. In almost every urban location I have ever lived, a midcentury transportation scar stretches across the landscape and makes navigation difficult for pedestrians, writes Fulton. These scars reveal the inequities of top-down policies whose effects continue to reverberate throughout communities, even as city leaders attempt to redress past injustices and rectify their negative impacts.
I-5 Study Shows Benefits of Capping Urban Freeways
Putting a lid on the interstate through downtown Seattle could create new space for parks and housing, reduce pollution, and reconnect the disrupted street grid. February 8, 2021, 8am PST | Diana Ionescu |
Scott Bonjukian
Doug Trumm reports on Seattle s quiet release of the Lid I-5 Feasibility Study, which highlights the benefits of capping freeways in cities. The report, funded through a community benefits package from the Washington State Convention Center expansion project, was designed to understand the technical and financial feasibility of lidding the freeway and to look at opportunities for maximizing public benefits.