Friday’s Headlines Tear It Down

Cities that demolish urban freeways often reap millions from new development. How can that money benefit the people who were originally displaced?

By Blake Aued

1:14 AM EDT on August 23, 2024

city of Milwaukee|

The Park East Freeway, demolished in 2003, is now an entertainment district anchored by Fiserv Forum, home of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Removing urban freeways creates developable land and tax revenue for cities, but it's critical that it be done in a way that benefits the communities those freeways originally displaced. (Next City)
The cost of building highways outweighs the benefits, especially when taking into account that they sit on $4 trillion worth of land. (State Smart Transportation Initiative)
The Federal Transit Administration finalized new safety training requirements for passenger rail workers. (Transportation Today)
The Minnesota Reformer examines Tim Walz's mixed record as governor on transportation, planning and environmental issues, including more funding for transit but also highway projects.
New York City is considering building housing on city-owned sites where garages and parking lots now sit. (NY Times)
Houston has made a lot of progress on becoming less car-centric, but now Mayor John Whitmire is stalling bike projects, and its transit agency has no plans to expand. (Washington Post)
Almost 80 percent of Miami-Dade voters voted yes on a nonbinding resolution in favor of expanding transit (Herald). They also re-elected progressive Mayor Daniella Levine Cava (Axios).
Construction has started on a new $160 million bus terminal in Detroit. (Axios)
Greater Greater Washington looks at candidates for Baltimore mayor and city council through an urbanist lens.
Austin found that upgraded left-turn signals reduced deaths and injuries from crashes by more than 47 percent at those intersections. (Monitor)
A new report found that Philadelphia is the safest city for pedestrians. Philadelphians disagree. (WHYY)
New wildlife crossings in Montana will save both grizzly bear and human lives. (Mountain Journal)
An Albuquerque neighborhood started a Little Free Library to spread the word about Vision Zero. (KOB 4)