Three U.S. ‘Highway Cap’ Projects Reckoning with Urban Inequity

Beginning in the 1950s, the Interstate Highway System began to span the continent, connecting cities across the United States and driving suburban development. But in many cities, these highway projects also physically divided communities and paved over neighborhoods.

New infrastructure projects are trying to bridge that divide. Cities across the country are working on “caps” and “stitches,” turning the airspace above the highway into green space or other badly needed downtown parcels in order to reconnect disadvantaged communities. A ULI webinar hosted by the Curtis Infrastructure Initiative in September gave an update on the status of such projects in three cities—Atlanta, Austin, and St. Paul. All three projects have been the subject of ULI Advisory Services panels in the past five years.