Kat Kocisky, PhD Student
Urban Studies Programs, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Urban Studies Programs, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road
- Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Highway expansion projects as issues of transit injusticeTo some, like author Jack Kerouac in his acclaimed novel On the Road, the uninterrupted flow of a road trip across the United States symbolizes freedom, movement, and possibility.[1] For many white, suburban middle-class residents living less nomadic lives, highways have not only acted as a commuter artery between home and work, but as a medium for escaping perceived urban problems like crime, poor schools, and different racial groups.[2] Yet for African American communities who have had a historically lower rate of automobile ownership, highways are more likely to be boundaries that restrict freedom, movement and possibility.[3] Therefore, it is worth exploring the role and impact of highways in a city like Milwaukee, ranked among the United States’ hypersegregated cities from 1970-2010.[4] Although new highway construction is less common than it was during the Interstate Era of the 1960s, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) currently lists several proposed and ongoing highway expansion projects in the state of Wisconsin.[5] To understand how highway expansion projects relate to transit justice, it is helpful to recognize that highways are not neutral pieces of infrastructure; instead they are constructed according to policy by planners in specific political, economic, social, and historical contexts.[6] As a result, depending on policy and planning, contemporary highway expansion projects may either solidify racial inequalities by benefitting only those who use highways the most, or present opportunities for cities to incorporate more inclusive methods of transit.[7]
References:[1]Kerouac, J. (2008). On the road. New York, NY: Penguin
[2]Henderson, J. (2006). Secessionist automobility: Racism, anti‐urbanism, and the politics of automobility in Atlanta, Georgia. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 30(2), 293-307. [3]Golub, A. (2014). Moving beyond Fordism “Complete Streets” and the changing political economy of urban transportation. In S. Zavestoski & J. Agyeman (Eds.) (2014)., Incomplete streets: Processes, practices, and possibilities (pp. 36-53). Routledge. [4]Massey, D., & Tannen, S. (2015). A research note on trends in black hypersegregation. Demography, 52(3), 1025-1034. [5]Bessert, C. (2016). Historical overview. In Wisconsin highways: Highways and byways of the badger state. Retrieved from: http://www.wisconsinhighways.org/historical_overview.html [6]Bullard, R. D., Johnson, G. S., & Torres, A. O. (Eds.). (2004). Highway robbery: Transportation racism & new routes to equity. South End Press. [7]Karner, A, Golub, A., Martens, K., & Robinson, G. (2017). Transportation and environmental justice: History and emerging practice. In R. Holifield, J. Chakraborty & G. Walker (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of environmental justice (pp. 400-411). Routledge. |
Case study: The proposed expansion of
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