The Federal Highway Administration is in Houston, TX today, listening to debates over a new $9B highway project at the center of a battle over environmental and racial justice. Stop TxDOT I-45 is a grassroots organization advocating for strategic, inclusive, and equitable transportation in Texas and working to stop the expansion of Highway I-45. The proposal in question would renovate about 24 miles along Interstate 45 and other roads around Houston, which supporters like the state's Transportation Commission (TxDOT) say will be safer and reduce congestion and travel times for commuters. Critics say that the expansion won't improve traffic and will have a disparate impact on predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods, including added pollution, flooding, and displacement.
Today's action is to listen to this 7-minute segment from NPR's Morning Edition on how racism shaped interstate highways in the US and the need for President Biden to address the systemic racism ingrained in historical transportation and urban planning in his new infrastructure bill.