Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Freeways

How to Fight a Texas-Sized Freeway Battle

A new book explores how Texas advocates are fighting back against destructive highway expansions. But what happened to those projects since it was sent to the printer?

Houston’s I-45 from above.

|Photo: Caribb, CC

Across the country, grassroots advocates are fighting a David-and-Goliath-style battle against massive, powerful departments of transportation who are attempting to widen highways in their neighborhoods. And in her new book, City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways, Megan Kimble introduces us to the many Davids who are taking on one of the biggest Goliaths of all: the Texas Department of Transportation.

In this extended audio version of our recent interview (excerpts that you can check out here), Kimble unpacks not just why the Lone Star State is uniquely emblematic of the larger movement to re-imagine our cities around people rather than cars, but what’s happened to these projects in the months since she finished her essential book — and what advocates in states without a visible freeway fighting contingent can do to galvanize their neighbors. 

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Take the Wheel

If Jesus won't take it, maybe AI will.

December 3, 2025

Advocates Push for Safety in Next Surface Transportation Reauthorization

A much-anticipated annual survey of state road safety laws called on federal lawmakers to back up their colleagues work.

December 3, 2025

Report: NYC is Undercounting The E-Bike Boom

A new study from an MIT grad student shows that e-bikes are the most popular vehicle for those using New York City's bike lanes.

December 3, 2025

Agenda 2026: Will Zohran Mamdani’s Left-Progressive Backers Mobilize for Faster Buses?

New York's new mayor must mobilize the coalition that got him elected if he wants to avoid his recent predecessors' failure to speed up buses.

December 2, 2025

Opinion: One Less Lane Ought To Fix It

Federal inaction means states must lead on reducing emissions — but their reluctance to reallocate road space for cars may doom climate goals.

December 2, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Fight Fire With Fire

Berkeley, Calif., is far from the only city where the fire department dictates transportation policy.

December 2, 2025
See all posts