History and Context
US-101 in its current form was constructed in 1964 and divides the densest parts of San Mateo County. Since the 2010s, Caltrans, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, and the City/County Association of Governments has embarked on a journey to widen US-101 between Santa Clara County and San Francisco County. The area adjacent to the US-101 highway widening project area has the highest concentration of low-income people of color in San Mateo County and San Francisco. Given its proximity to industrial land uses, an airport, the area around the 101 project is already one of the hardest hit by pollution in the state of California. Phase 3 of this highway widening in the northern part of the county is proposed to add around 30 miles of Express Lanes and auxiliary lanes, undermining investments in the parallel Caltrain commuter rail service.
Proposal
The local campaign, Stop 101 Widening, has gotten nearly 1,000 petition signatures and is mobilizing community members in Downtown South San Francisco to understand and organize on environmental justice issues in their community.
One of their partner organizations, Rise South City, is organizing this community member mobilization and has a mission “to create a new center of gravity in the climate movement by uniting frontline communities, allies, and organizations toward resilient, regenerative, and equitable neighborhoods.” Rise has led community workshops in English and Spanish and installed air quality monitors so that the community has the tools to speak up about air quality concerns. In addition to addressing the environmental justice issues with this highway widening, the campaign is also addressing the financial impacts of these types of infrastructure projects. Adding lanes to the freeway will cost hundreds of millions of dollars just to make the problem worse. That’s money that could instead go to real solutions like meaningful investment in transit, major improvements to the walkability and bikeabililty of local communities, and a fix-it-first approach to existing roads that quickly tackles issues like poor signage and potholes.
Current Plans
Stopping highway widenings like US-101 is a vital first step in acknowledging and reducing the unequal burdens of highway infrastructure on communities. By preventing a “business as usual” approach to infrastructure projects, anti-widening campaigns can counter the myths of induced demand and advocate for spending infrastructure funds on people instead of cars. Reconnecting communities long harmed by these highways must begin with stopping widening projects that will only add to the costs of highway removal and restructuring later on.