Freeway Revolts: Why not the Twin Cities?
Nick Dobda, Xiaozheng He, Alec More
Questions to consider :
Originally, road construction and maintenance was overseen by state and local officials. One man, Logan Waller Page, saw that the transportation infrastructure was critical to the Nation's future. In order to achieve this, he got the government involved with the idea of a national funding program, called the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916. The act was off to a slow start until Thomas H. MacDonald created a partnership between the states and the federal government. His solution was the Federal Highway Act of 1921. With this completion, a highway boom in the 20's into the 30's made the transportation system more complex. By the end of the Federal Aid system, it was clear the next step was necessary.
“We have reached a point in our development where we can no longer ignore the needs of traffic flowing from the main highways into and through cities and from feeder roads to the main highways.”
Summaries of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 and Federal Highway Act of 1921 and how financing for these roads were determined. Planning for this new interstate system started with the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1934.
In a report published in 1944, a map layout of an interstate system of 40,000 miles was planned. This system looked remarkably like that of today. To help the authorities, Interregional Highways (publisher of this report) included a 16-page section on "Principles of Route Selection in Cities" and followed it with a 4-page section on "Illustrations of Principles of Route Selection."
Here is a summary, pay particular attention to the last entry: Urban Design Principles
It was not until the mid 1950's and the Federal Highway Act of 1956 that the National interstate idea was put into motion. This act began the construction of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.
Here is a summary of the Federal Highway Act of 1956.
This U.S. News and World Report link provides a decent outline of both highway design and urban planning, along with discussing some aspects of urban revolt against proposed inner city highway systems.
The road warrior: Building the highways that changed a nation
The purpose of these highways was simple, to move vehicles from place to place as quickly and easily as possible. As it turned out, against the advice from the Interregional Highways, the Eisenhower system did not consider the future impact the highways would have on the urban city centers. The people who designed the interstates did not think of the community that they were placing the highway on. Furthermore, the routes these highways were taking were being used shape the cities in sinister ways. Several examples are shown here as to the consequences of this type of planning. Skim through pages 1- 38 of the report. It is not necessary to read the whole thing.
The Interstates and the Cities ( Part 1 )
This is an academic article that discusses both
freeway planning, focusing on urban transit planning and impoverished
neighborhoods with
high minority populations. Halfway through the PDF, (pg. 51), begins the
discussion of the freeway revolt movement. This is a long article, but with
good background information.
The Interstates and the Cities ( Part 2 ) or here: Stop the Road - Freeway Revolts in American Cities
While freeway revolts have taken place in cities like Portland (OR), Baltimore and New Orleans, San Francisco's freeway revolt serves as the flagship example of mass citizen activism against freeways. This link provides a very good look at San Francisco's Freeway Revolt.
Robert Moses, the famous parks commissioner for the city of New York, planned and executed some of the most ambitious and controversial public works projects in New York during his working years, and was often seen as a man you wouldn't want to mess with. This link gives a good frame of reference for his life and work.
At the end of his career, Moses intended to level the Greenwich Village neighborhood, or at least a part of it, to build an expressway. But Jane Jacobs got in his way. This article discusses her efforts, and her books, on stopping sprawl and freeways from creating sprawl etc.