A first-of-its-kind gathering of highway opponents from 25 groups across the US convened in Cincinnati in October 2023.
Photo: Joe Simon
The New Generation of Freeway Fighters Is Assembling
Foes of US highway expansions, fueled by environmental and equity concerns, gathered at a summit to share strategy, compare notes and try to forge a national movement.
Like most American cities, Cincinnati’s downtown is defined by a tangle of highways. In the 1960s, Interstate 75 was built through the West End neighborhood northwest of downtown; the highway — and the massive urban renewal project that accompanied it — wiped out 3,700 buildings and displaced more than 25,000 people, most of whom were Black.
In early 2022, when Matt Butler learned about a $3.6 billion plan to widen I-75 through the West End, he thought: No way.