During 1959-1969, approximately 75% of highway construction in Wisconsin was because of the passing of the Eisenhower administration’s Federal Aid Highway Act. With the passing of the act, the federal government constructed 41,000 miles of highway within 15 years. The US government would pay for most of the funding, an overwhelming 90%, while the state would pay for the remaining 10%. Cities in America during this time were intentionally segregated by redlining and racist housing policies. Milwaukee continues to be one of the most segregated cities in America because of systemic racism.
Urban planning can alter the economies and livelihoods of the citizens within a city by either dissuading or promoting people to live there. Jane Jacobs, an urban planning activist in New York City in the 1960s, observed the negative effects of poor urban planning designs. She challenged the notion in her book The Death and Life of American Cities. The publisher, Random House, sent a copy to city planner Robert Moses, who was not fond of the book or its ideas. Moses and Jacobs would bump heads multiple times, but one project was the expansion project of I-78 in downtown New York, which would destroy 416 buildings which housed 2,200 families, 365 retail stores, and 480 commercial establishments. Luckily, Moses lost this fight, and the buildings would remain in downtown New York.
Much of the highways built during the peak of highway construction failed to consider effects on Black and poor neighborhoods. Most of the poorer urban core of Milwaukee had lower car ownership rates than many of its developing suburbs, so access to public transportation was key to maintaining access to jobs. Mobility and travel became more limited in minority communities, as walkability decreased and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) made freeway decisions without public input. With the construction of I-43 on the North Side, a predominantly Black neighborhood, came “white flight” where many white people fled the city for the newly constructed housing in the suburbs. Minority communities could not leave the city as many didn’t have enough generational wealth to do so, and there were also very few people who would sell to them. The North Side of Milwaukee essentially lost all of its social community as a highway now ran down the middle of the community, as construction for I-43 demolished nearly 17,000 homes and 1,000 businesses.
I-94 East/West in Milwaukee is not immune to systemic racism, as its construction also destabilized all communities within the region. Public transportation is key in providing access to jobs in lower income areas and providing the fabric for social and economic connectedness. Because of environmental justice concerns, Sierra Club is concerned about the expansion project of the I-94 east-west corridor, without addressing the issues that have been plaguing the communities around it for decades, that we are countering WisDOT 8 lane initiative with our alternative proposal #FixAtSix. Expanding these highways would not only hurt the environment and worsen the climate crisis, but would also impact and further harm human health as well. Overall, health outcomes are significantly worse in poor communities & communities of color, and one of the major contributors is air pollution from highways. Across the United States, fail to meet air quality standards for many pollutants. Half of African American and 60 percent of Latinos live in areas that do not meet national standards for air quality for over one pollutant, and ethnic minorities have higher cancer and asthma rates because of this.
A recent op-ed in Urban Milwaukee cites that adding a new ramp from I-94 to highway 175, could impact the health and safety of children who play at Valley Park. As the #FixAtSix alternative sites, it would lead to increased vehicle usage, traffic, more urban flight, as more people could leave the city. Because of induced demand, it is likely traffic would also stay the same, negating the potential safety protections WisDOT has for the highway.
The racial justice impacts of highway projects are not limited to Milwaukee. Highways have also hurt Madison’s minority and poor populations. The Madison Beltline was also built at the time of redlining in the 1950s. Most recently, the Madison Beltline has been the center of an expansion project by WisDOT. One of the primary plans WisDOT is exploring is adding a lane to this highway, which brings similar concerns like the I94 expansion project.
Not only has WisDOT prioritized harmful highway expansion mega-projects, but multimodal solutions like public transportation, walking and biking have also not been WisDOT’s priority. Even when #FixAtSix solutions are cost effective, better for public health, increase quality of life and are better for the climate.