The Secret Ways Highways Are Killing Us

Highways are everywhere in America and are a big part of our everyday lives -- but is their presence shortening our lives? Myles Bess explores the health impacts of freeways and looks at removing them as a potential solution.

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What is the history of the highway system in the U.S.?

Short answer: former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  He had seen examples in his early career of highways in America, but it wasn’t until WWII when he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe that his dream of an interstate highway system really started to take shape. While stationed in Germany he saw how the allies used Germany's ~Reichsautobahn~ (their high-speed roadway system) to move goods, supplies, and people super efficiently, helping them nearly win the war. His thinking was that Americans need highways to get around, be evacuated in case of an emergency like war, or move supplies in case of a war. So after becoming President, he passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. By the ’90s there were 45,000 miles of road built.

How did highways segregate and displace communities of color?

The United States was still racially segregated at the time of highway expansion. Communities of color were not prioritized when some of these choices of where to place highways were made. Black and white communities were largely divided, and many of the highways were literally built around Black neighborhoods, isolating those communities away from the rest of white America. This also led to displacement as some highways were built right through neighborhoods, tearing down housing and businesses displacing and destroying Black communities as they weren’t protected and considered as politically valuable as wealthier white communities were.

What is environmental racism?

Now that we know how, why, and where the highways were placed,  what impact are they having on us today? Environmental racism is racial discrimination in environmental policy decisions. Looking at Oakland and Los Angeles as examples, we see that folks who live closer to highways have higher exposure to the pollution which can cause an array of health problems such as asthma, other respiratory issues, lower life expectancy, and potential developmental delays for children.

What are potential solutions to highway pollution and displacement?

Many cities across the U.S. have removed portions of freeways or have announced studies to look into removing them. One argument that’s always brought up is that removing highways could increase traffic, or commuting would be worse somehow. However, most projects are only talking about removing a portion of a highway-- not the entire thing-- and typically the highways being proposed for removal aren't used as heavily as other portions of the highway or are in poor condition. There's also the question of reparations: how do we compensate the communities most impacted who are still dealing with the effects of highway expansion today? In 2022, President Biden proposed 1.9 billion dollars in grants to fund “Neighborhood Access and Equity” as part of the Inflation Reduction Act to help rebuild communities impacted by highways and infrastructure. While it remains to be seen how this funding will be distributed and implemented, it is considered an important step towards progress by many affected communities.

Selected Sources:

00:00 Intro
00:39 History of highways in America
01:58 How were Infrastructure choices made
03:28 Environmental Racism Impacts
04:55 Removing Highways as a solution
06:00 Mandela Parkway

#highways #pollution #environment #urbanplanning
06:31 Reparations for communities impacted by highways

[AboveTheNoise]

Do you think highway removal projects are a good solution for repairing the harm done to communities? Why or why not? Let us know is there comments below!

[joycat]

Removing highways sounds scary snd confusing, as you said. But using the terms 'relocating ' or ' revamping' highways (or some other more accurate term) might help make it a bit easier to accept and understand. Thanks for helping clear up the misunderstandings.

[nyves]

I work at urban library in a majority black neighborhood, we're literally right next to the highway. If you're in the back of the building, you can actually feel the trucks go by.

[chrismoon]

As an environmental science teacher, I'm glad you covered this topic. Definitely could have gone into more detail on the connection between redlining and where freeways were built. Also direct connection to urban blight/urban sprawl.

[arthurbdt]

European cities have a lot of urban highways too. They just tend more to put them underground. Don’t understand why it’s so uncommon in the US

[monkeyseatcatfood]

First time watching your videos. This was an interesting topic. Looking forward to more content that "cuts through the noise!"

[MeltySimone]

Black Bottom Detroit is a major example

[alchristensen]

My father was Chief of Construction and Maintenance in the Bureau of Public Roads in the 50s and 60s. I refer to him as the midwife of the Interstate system. Although he wasn't a hostile racist he held several racist assumptions because of the times and the people he grew up with. I've come to accept that this generally kind and well-intended man was party to the racism behind the Interstate system. I don't know how involved he was in decisions about where to route the highways, but he made sure the decisions were carried out.

[jim]

good video. Where enough of the community remains that removing a highway will help, I think that's great. There are a long list of destroyed communities that can never be restored. Like those that used to be in Chavez Ravine. I think the most important thing we can do is make sure they're public knowledge.

[Princess]

My new apartment is right by the highway. I never knew anything about the health hazards of living near a highway 😮

[ToMegaTherionXCIII]

Does this issue most correlate to low income people (and therefore POCs for as much as POCs correlate with low income buckets)? Or does this affect POCs (agnostic of income)?

This is abuse of the powerless, and a blame of the powerless, to pit them against each other and continue to grow the systems that allow this kind of control.

[Apollyon]

I want to remove a lot of car based infrastructure, especially massive parking lots. Fund walkable communities and public transportation.

[nathan]

This video exclusively discusses the costs of highways. Any objective cost benefit analysis would also evaluate the benefit.

[collinyan]

You only mention the cons of living near a highway then demand reparations? what about the easier access to transport that helps with economic opportunity? or the increase in economic activity that comes with having a highway? should those communities also have to pay back all the advantages?

[lbjcb]

We should move highways that cause harm and place them on the outskirts of cities. I hope we find ways to do this all over American so low income communities can create better spaces for themselves

[Petch]

0:03
That can't ne true.
I think you can drive from the top of Sweden to the coast of Yemen and through Mongolia to the Chinese border.
I know there are not that many rods in come of the countries, but that road network has to be larger, it includes the hole of EU, where you basically can see at least one road from any location.

[mamafricatalkshow]

I love your content way to go Americans really subscribe to support their own.

[j.franklin]

I don't know about highway locations being racist...that seems a little crazy. And what about the pros of a highway?

But I do believe in decompressing our cities, expanding them outward, so the roads aren't jammed all the time, and there's still some green within the city instead of buildings cramped together. If we are going to spend billions of dollars to relocate some highways, perhaps we can do it in a way that encourages outward expansion of cities.

[theysisossenthime]

I've listened to many different perspectives on this concept. In general, I am for the removal of more highways from our urban environments. I cannot say that I really have a good idea what this would look like if implemented, but there are just too many negatives to all these urban highways we have to not support change. I liked the example from Oakland. That made a lot of sense. But, to be far, this one also felt like lower hanging fruit compared to some of the challenges we have in the U.S. I really wonder what the U.S. will look like in 10-20 years.

I'm no city planner, that is for sure, but I would love to see less roads. There is a reason so much of our transportation network in the U.S. is in ill repair. The cost to maintain everything is beyond our means to upkeep. Is there any city/state out there looking to tear out highways to replace with electric public transportation lines? Or maybe other alternatives to single occupancy vehicles that flood peak highway usage times?

[TheBlueCopperrrX]

Highways are cool. No stop signs. No stop lights, no stops besides traffic. Keep em fuck the haters