Green America’s Highways and Reunite Communities

Target: Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senate Majority Leader

Goal: Retain proposals to remove old highways and replace them with more environmentally friendly alternatives.

Aging highways have divided communities and helped create hazardous environmental conditions across America. Most of the city road systems built since the mid-20th century have disproportionately wiped out minority neighborhoods. The pollution created by these mega-structures also endangers urban inhabitants, not to mention the tremendous toll highway construction has exerted on botanical life and wildlife. A promising facet of the Biden administration’s proposed infrastructure plan could help reverse these damages.

Specifically, the plan—along with hefty grants from the Department of Transportation—would seriously invest in rejoining divided neighborhoods marred by highways. Cities like Rochester have already completed successful initiatives to erase rather than renovate crumbling portions of highway. In the place of these roads and the detrimental pollution they bring are often vast areas of greenery now brimming with plant and animal life. Senses of community have also been restored.

This important and beneficial tool cannot be lost in the haggling over an infrastructure deal. Sign the petition below to help ensure the greening of America’s failing roads remains a top priority.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Senator Schumer,

The investment in and renovation of the Rochester Inner Loop freeway is testament to how much reframing and reimagining infrastructure solutions can make a difference. Rather than building highways, this initiative sought to remove an aging relic that divided communities and put public health at risk via heavy pollution. The sky did not fall and traffic did not become a nightmare, as the critics claimed.

Instead, neighborhoods were restored and inhabitants could actually see that not-falling sky in greater clarity. Government commitment and funding helped make this success story possible. The infrastructure plan as envisioned by the Biden administration could do the same for cities and towns nationwide to the tune of 20 billion dollars. The short-term investment could yield invaluable long-term reward and signal actionable offenses do exist to combat climate change.

Please do not lose sight of these priorities. Keep the highway proposal as an integral and essential part of infrastructure reform.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Ian Beckley


One Comment

  1. Loretta Tiefen says:

    USA needs many more green wildlife crossings over highways. We hope to be getting one soon across the deadly 101 Freeway in Agoura, California. So many endangered cougars and pumas have been killed trying to cross the 10 lane YES 10 LANE freeway. They need to cross to establish territory and prevent the massive inbreeding that is causing birth defects in their kittens.

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