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What If We Tore Down That Highway?

What If We Tore Down That Highway?

Update: 2025-06-10
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Louis and Chris dive into seven American highways that should be removed to improve city life and reconnect communities divided by urban renewal projects of the past.

• Kansas City's North Loop divides downtown from the historic River Market area, destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses
• Syracuse's I-81 removal project is moving forward with plans to replace the downtown viaduct with a boulevard
• New Orleans' Claiborne Expressway displaced 1,500 people and continues to harm adjacent neighborhoods
• Baltimore's "Highway to Nowhere" spans just 14 city blocks but demolished 900 homes and serves no transportation purpose
• Portland Maine's I-295 occupies valuable waterfront property that could be reclaimed for public use and housing
• Oakland's 980 freeway runs through downtown at below capacity and sits on land that could address the housing crisis
• Milwaukee's I-794 removal proposal has state support and would reconnect neighborhoods to downtown and the waterfront

If you'd like to support the show directly, you can do so via our Patreon or by checking out our merch store. Let us know in the comments if there are other highways you think should be removed.


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What If We Tore Down That Highway?

What If We Tore Down That Highway?

Louis & Chris