“A Highway Runs Through Us”

The More We Uncover Series.

Highways were meant to connect us, but in city after city across America, they were also used to divide. In the mid-20th century, when federal interstate projects carved new routes through urban neighborhoods, it was often black, brown, and working-class communities that paid the highest price. Entire blocks were bulldozed, families displaced, and thriving business districts dismantled in the name of “progress.”

The scars remain today—not just in the concrete and overpasses, but in the economic and social divides they deepened.

In this piece, I’ll look at eight (8) major cities where a highway quite literally ran through them, reshaping history and community life in ways that still reverberate.

Miami and Tulsa are two strong examples, but I’ve learned there are many others across the U.S. where highways were deliberately routed through well-establish black communities. Here’s the eight well-known cases:

Miami, Florida

I-95 cut directly through Overtown, a thriving Black neighborhood known as the “Harlem of the South.” Thousands of residents and businesses were displaced, and the once-bustling community was fractured.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

In the 1960s, U.S. Highway 75 was built through the Greenwood District, long after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The highway destroyed much of what remained of Black Wall Street and stifled economic recovery.

New Orleans, Louisiana

I-10 was built over Claiborne Avenue, a Black cultural and business hub lined with oak trees. The construction destroyed dozens of businesses and erased a center of Black life in the Tremé neighborhood.

Detroit, Michigan

I-375 plowed through Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, two historic Black neighborhoods full of music, culture, and community. Tens of thousands were displaced.

Los Angeles, California

The Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) cut through the Black neighborhood of Sugar Hill and the Mexican American neighborhood of Pico Union, uprooting communities and homes.

St. Paul, Minnesota

I-94 was routed through the Rondo neighborhood, the heart of Black life in St. Paul. More than 600 Black families were displaced, businesses shuttered, and the community never fully recovered.

Birmingham, Alabama

I-20/I-59 was built to cut through Black neighborhoods, reinforcing segregation lines already in place.

And in Atlanta, Georgia, I‑20 was routed through predominantly black neighborhoods in the city’s west and southwest areas. Homes, churches, and local businesses were demolished, deliberately targeting minority communities while leaving wealthier, white areas intact.

👉 In all these cases, highways weren’t just about transportation — they were tools of urban renewal and racial segregation. State and city leaders chose to run them through minority communities rather than wealthier white ones.

The more we uncover and learn, the more we know.

If you like this blog, please like, comment, and share❤️🙏🏽 Follow me on this platform for new blogs.

#moreweuncover