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Freeway Exit Freeways are not free. We pay for them in all kinds of ways — with our tax dollars, our time, our environment and our health. While freeways have enabled huge amounts of economic growth, they've also caused displacement and division. Learn the forgotten history of our urban freeway network, and how decades after that network was finished, some communities are still working to heal the wounds that freeways left behind. As climate change threatens to wreak havoc on our cities, freeways are not just a part of the problem. They can also be part of the solution.
Freeway Exit

Podcast Directory
Freeway Exit

Freeway Exit

From KPBS Radio

Freeways are not free. We pay for them in all kinds of ways — with our tax dollars, our time, our environment and our health. While freeways have enabled huge amounts of economic growth, they've also caused displacement and division. Learn the forgotten history of our urban freeway network, and how decades after that network was finished, some communities are still working to heal the wounds that freeways left behind. As climate change threatens to wreak havoc on our cities, freeways are not just a part of the problem. They can also be part of the solution.

Most Recent Episodes

Port of Entry: The Right to The City

Traffic is a huge problem in Tijuana and San Diego. If you drive around during the day, you will most certainly be caught in a traffic jam. So should we build more roads to ease traffic congestion? In this crossover episode with Port of Entry, KPBS' border podcast, we explore what is keeping residents of Tijuana from a better quality of life. The answer took us by surprise. If you enjoyed this episode of Port of Entry, check out their current season on Visionaries and Shapers of the Borderlands. You can check out their catalog for older episodes here or wherever you get your podcasts!

BONUS: Freeways are bigger in Texas

City Limits, a new book from journalist Megan Kimble, chronicles the emergence of a modern wave of freeway revolts in Texas. As the Texas Department of Transportation seizes more and more land to widen its highways, people who had never considered themselves urbanists or activists are joining the movement. This time they're not just fighting displacement, pollution and segregation — they're also fighting climate catastrophe.

BONUS: Reconnecting Communities (with David Alvarez)

The California legislature is starting a conversation about how to reunite communities that were divided by freeways. For Assemblymember David Alvarez, the issue is personal. Alvarez grew up in San Diego's Barrio Logan, one of the most polluted communities in California. He's now chair of a special committee dedicated to correcting the kind of racial and environmental injustices his family has faced for decades.

BONUS: Blowing the whistle on widening freeways

Former Caltrans executive Jeanie Ward-Waller shares her story of getting fired after speaking out against a freeway project near Sacramento. She says Caltrans is driven by a "mindless impulse to add more freeway lanes," and that reform-minded people at the agency are often sidelined and dismissed.

BONUS: In defense of freeways

Gustavo Dallarda, director of Caltrans District 11, explains some of the engineering behind freeways and makes the case that they provide an efficient means of travel compared to surface roads. He acknowledges the need to reduce vehicle travel, but says infrastructure doesn't get built overnight and that our transition away from cars and freeways has to be slow and gradual.

BONUS: Do freeways really save us time?

Our methods for measuring the economic impact of freeways are rooted in 1950s logic. A new report, "Divided by Design" from Smart Growth America, uncovers just how much they leave out. Co-author Beth Osborne says we tend to overestimate how much time and money we'll save on freeways. And we ignore the ways in which freeways can sometimes make trips longer. Divided by Design: https://smartgrowthamerica.org/program/divided-by-design/ Explainer on the value of time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_KLleAqjBs

BONUS: Engineering streets like freeways

Chuck Marohn, the founder of Strong Towns, has a bone to pick with the field of engineering: Too often, it uses freeway design standards on local streets. Marohn spoke with Andrew as he was promoting his book "Confessions of a Recovering Engineer." He argues engineers need to stop prioritizing speed over safety, and that cities need to stop trying to "solve" congestion.

BONUS: Hasan Ikhrata

As the CEO of San Diego County's transportation planning agency, SANDAG, Hasan Ikhrata has done more than anyone else to shake up the conversation around our freeways. Ikhrata has pushed his own board of directors to let go of long standing plans to widen certain freeways. And he's jump-started a debate over charging drivers by the mile to fund a more sustainable system.

The road ahead

San Diego is closer to removing a freeway than you might realize. Caltrans begins experimenting with temporary freeway closures that allow people to walk and bike on them. The vision for a freeway lid over Interstate 5 takes a small step forward. But the work of reconnecting communities is expensive. What is the price we're willing to pay for environmental justice?

Decommission

A devastating earthquake forces San Francisco to consider the radical notion of tearing a freeway down. The results are wildly successful: The Embarcadero Freeway is replaced with a transit and pedestrian-friendly boulevard. The Central Freeway's removal revitalizes a neighborhood and improves safety. Some activists want to finish what the earthquake started.

Freeway Exit

Podcast Directory