Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

Talking Headways Podcast: The Freeway That Never Was

This week we’re talking with Brendan Wittstruck about St. Louis's never built freeway, I-755, which he recently wrote about at Streetsblog member NextSTL.

podcast icon logo
Meal delivery is one service of Project Roomkey. Photo: LAHSA

Brendan discusses the history of the project and how drawing lines on maps can be seductive to planners, who always have to be careful about trying to “fix” cities. He also talks about the racial politics of freeway construction in St. Louis, and how that legacy still shapes the city today. Finally, we chat about what the I-755 story means for freeway teardown movements today in terms of data collection and why this freeway never saw the light of day.

Join us and hear about the teardown that never had to happen, and the freeway that was never built.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

This Week In Livable Streets

Metro board meeting, L.A. City Council District 1 not-quite-debate, 105 Freeway widening, Measure M, and more

December 1, 2025

Metro Committee Approves $7M to Tee Up 91 Freeway Widening

Metro and Caltrans anticipate spending roughly $200M to add one more westbound lane for nearly four miles through the cities of Artesia and Cerritos

December 1, 2025

UCLA Report Shows How Freeway Construction Last Century Was Used to Destroy and Divide Communities of Color

“Understanding the history of racism in freeway development can inform restorative justice in these areas.”

November 26, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines

ICE, Vernon sues Metro, first Measure HLA Board of Public Works appeals, Metro LIFE program, gondola, Santa Monica vs. Waymo, Pasadena, car-nage and more

November 26, 2025
See all posts