Not just the state’s statues that need to be torn down
The time has come for Connecticut to tear down its monuments to inequality and racism: the elevated urban freeways that decimate our state’s neighborhoods, pollute their air and disproportionately affect people of color.
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and countless others, the United States is undergoing a long-overdue racial reckoning. Symbolically important monuments to white supremacist leaders such as Robert E. Lee and genocidal figures like Christopher Columbus are being taken down across the country. This is great news. However, for those looking to move beyond symbolism and tear down monuments that literally perpetuate structural racism and promote inequality, tearing down Connecticut’s urban highways should be a top priority.
It is difficult to overstate the devastation urban freeways wrought on the state’s cities. In New Haven, the 1950s construction of I-95 eradicated the ethnic and immigrant Oak Street neighborhood, destroying 3000 homes and 350 small businesses in the process. Destroying a poor, immigrant enclave was an explicit goal of the project. New Haven Mayor Richard C. Lee described Oak Street as “a hard core of cancer which had to be removed.” The project did just that. In Hartford, Stamford, and New London, state and federal officials rammed similar urban renewal projects and highways through marginalized neighborhoods. Today, these highways reinforce the state’s unfortunate pattern: wealthy, majority-white suburbs trampling over and through impoverished majority-minority cities.
Perhaps no municipality continues to be impacted by urban freeways as much as the state’s biggest city, Bridgeport. Located on Connecticut’s “gold coast,” Route 8/25 and I-95 absolutely gut the city, slicing its territory in half and cutting off downtown from its beautiful waterfront parks.
In 2016, Kristin Floberg, an engineering master’s student at UConn working under the direction of Professor Norman Garrick, was able to quantify the damage highways did to Bridgeport. Her study showed that in 1913, downtown Bridgeport was 21% streets and highways and 30% buildings, while in 2013 those numbers flipped to 19% buildings and a stunning 42% streets and highways. In a devastating conclusion, Floberg found that after the construction of the highways, Route 8 and Interstate 95 made Bridgeport less walkable and livable, stating, “When there is a loss in urban fabric the city becomes less livable. It is uncomfortable and unengaging for pedestrians to walk across expanse blank spaces.”
Urban freeways and their connector roads also significantly contribute to air pollution. An alarming number of studies now show the deleterious effects air pollution has on health, learning, and childhood development. Bridgeport’s urban freeways expose its residents, which includes thousands of students, to disproportionate amounts of damaging particulate matter.
Tearing down Connecticut’s urban freeways will be an extraordinary challenge. As a suburban state, many of its residents consider easy motoring and free parking a birthright. Unlike removing a single statue or reading “White Fragility,” these efforts will require sustained, years-long work in the face of vociferous opposition. However, there are success stories we can look to for guidance.
In Seoul, South Korea, the city tore down an elevated freeway and replaced it with a popular greenway. Closer to home, Rochester and Syracuse are removing downtown highways in the hopes of stitching together neighborhoods. And here at home, Hartford’s community leaders have already begun the struggle to reimagine the I-84 viaduct. I hope other leaders will follow Hartford’s example. In a state with such high levels of residential segregation, good urban policy directly supports racial justice.
On May 30, protesters shut down both sides of Route 8 in Bridgeport to protest the murder of George Floyd and push for racial justice in the United States. It was a fitting location given state highway’s historically devastating impact on Bridgeport’s citizens. As we move forward, let’s add Connecticut’s urban freeways to the list of racist monuments torn down across the country.