• Freeway ramp becomes park, connecting city to its river

    Albany Skyway in Albany, New York, reclaims an "ugly chunk of highway" to reconnect downtown with the Hudson riverfront via a new linear park. Stantec Consulting Services won a CNU 2023 Charter Award in the Neighborhood, District, and Corridor category.
    Note: CNU and Public Square are closed the week of June 5, following a successful CNU 31 in Charlotte Cities across America have been damaged and disfigured by urban freeways—and the recently completed Albany Skyway shows how they can begin to heal. The $15 million Skyway—converting an Interstate...Read more

  • The role of community advocacy

    CNU’s biennial Freeways Without Futures report is out now! In a series of articles, Public Square is exploring common threads from the report. Article three focuses on how community campaigns can influence public policy related to in-city highways.
    With many of these hulking, burdensome highways reaching the end of their useful lifespans, communities are looking for alternatives to costly highway repair and expansion. The campaigns in this report offer a pathway to better health, equity, opportunity, and connectivity in every neighborhood,...Read more

  • Reconnecting Communities with federal financing

    CNU’s biennial Freeways Without Futures report is out now! In a series of articles, Public Square is exploring common threads from the report. Article two focuses on Reconnecting Communities financing.
    This year’s report is the first to coincide with acknowledgment from the federal government of the inequitable and harmful impacts of urban highway construction. Financing for the first round of funding through the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program awarded $185 million in grants to 45 projects...Read more

  • What does government support for highway removal look like?

    CNU’s biennial Freeways Without Futures report is out now! In a series of articles, Public Square is exploring common threads from the report. Article one focuses on how government supports local campaigns.
    Freeways Without Futures highlights the efforts of local campaign organizers and activists seeking to revitalize their communities by dismantling the city highways that burden them with the significant health hazards of vehicle exhaust, a loss of local businesses and services, and streets that are...Read more