Skip to content

Talking Headways Podcast: The Freeway That Never Was  

This week we’re talking with Brendan Wittstruck about St. Louis's never built freeway, I-755, which he recently wrote about at Streetsblog member NextSTL.

This week we’re talking with Brendan Wittstruck about St. Louis’s never built freeway, I-755, which he recently wrote about at Streetsblog member NextSTL.

podcast icon logo

Brendan discusses the history of the project and how drawing lines on maps can be seductive to planners, who always have to be careful about trying to “fix” cities. He also talks about the racial politics of freeway construction in St. Louis, and how that legacy still shapes the city today. Finally, we chat about what the I-755 story means for freeway teardown movements today in terms of data collection and why this freeway never saw the light of day.

Join us and hear about the teardown that never had to happen, and the freeway that was never built.

Photo of Jeff Wood
Jeff Wood is the creator of the Talking Headways podcast and editor of the newsletter The Overhead Wire.

Read More:

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.

More from Streetsblog USA

In New Jersey, Mayors Show How Quickly We Can Slow Down Drivers

June 12, 2026

Friday Video: What Happens When World Cup Fans Come to America

June 12, 2026

Friday’s Headlines Are Still Dangerous

June 12, 2026

Talking Headways Podcast: Are Arterials Unsafe? Or Are We Making Them Unsafe?

June 11, 2026

Latest Report Shows That Sprawl Continues To Hamstring Youth, Limit Opportunities

June 11, 2026
See all posts