L.A. Times Analysis Shows Racist Harms of Freeway Projects
12:49 PM PST on November 12, 2021
This vacant land, viewed from Norwalk’s Silverbow Avenue pedestrian overpass, was more than a dozen homes. Metro and Caltrans have demolished hundreds of homes for their South 5 Freeway widening project. Photo by Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.
This week the Los Angeles Times published a three-article series on freeway expansion's present and past harms to communities of color. The Times examined three decades of freeway expansion projects in five states - California, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas - and found that large highway building projects demolished homes predominantly (nearly two-thirds) in Black and Latino neighborhoods.
The L.A. Times analysis of freeway expansion over 30 years in five states found a predominance of home demolitions in communities of color. Graph via LAT article
A stretch of Maidstone Avenue in the city of Norwalk in 2007 – via Google Street ViewMaidstone Avenue in the city of Norwalk, 2007 - via Google Street View
The same stretch of Maidstone in 2021: home demolition sites along the outsized freeway wall. Photo by Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.The same stretch of Maidstone in 2021. In this location, Metro demolished a half-dozen homes. Note the outsized height of the 5 Freeway walls - they are taller than the ~30+foot utility poles.
New concepts for rapid bus service across the 626 have ironed out the questions of where an East-West route would run and where demonstrations could begin.
Metro and Caltrans eastbound 91 Freeway widening is especially alarming as it will increase tailpipe pollution in an already diesel-pollution-burdened community that is 69 percent Latino, and 28 percent Black