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Effects of Freeway Rerouting and Boulevard Replacement on Air Pollution Exposure and Neighborhood Attributes

Author

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  • Regan F. Patterson

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 607 Davis Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA)

  • Robert A. Harley

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1710, USA)

Abstract

Freeway rerouting and replacement with a street-level boulevard are urban transportation policies, that may help redress disproportionate air pollution burdens resulting from freeway construction that took place during the mid-20th century. However, environmental justice activism for freeway rerouting and urban green space creation may have the unintended consequence of environmental gentrification. In this paper, we investigate the effects of freeway routing decisions on exposure to traffic-related air pollution and neighborhood socioeconomic and demographic change. We focus on the effects of rerouting the Cypress Freeway in West Oakland, along with the construction of a street-level boulevard (Mandela Parkway), on the original freeway alignment. The impacts of two rebuild scenarios, freeway rebuild-in-place and reroute, on near-roadway NO x and BC concentrations are compared. We also assess changes in demographics and land use in West Oakland, between the time when the Cypress Freeway was damaged by a major earthquake and after completion of Mandela Parkway. Our research indicates that freeway rerouting reduced annual average concentrations of both NO x (−38% ± 4%) and BC (−25% ± 2%) along the Mandela Parkway alignment. However, there is evidence of environmentally driven neighborhood change, given that there are larger decreases in the long-time Black population (−28%) and increases in property values (184%) along Mandela Parkway, compared to West Oakland as a whole. There are some attributes along the Mandela Parkway that enable low-income residents to live in proximity to the street-level boulevard, such as affordable housing.

Suggested Citation

  • Regan F. Patterson & Robert A. Harley, 2019. "Effects of Freeway Rerouting and Boulevard Replacement on Air Pollution Exposure and Neighborhood Attributes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-13, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4072-:d:279338
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cervero, Robert & Kang, Junhee & Shively, Kevin, 2009. "From elevated freeways to surface boulevards: neighborhood and housing price impacts in San Francisco," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt33q2012g, University of California Transportation Center.
    2. Gonzalez, P.A. & Minkler, M. & Garcia, A.P. & Gordon, M. & Garzón, C. & Palaniappan, M. & Prakash, S. & Beveridge, B., 2011. "Community-based participatory research and policy advocacy to reduce diesel exposure in West Oakland, California," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(SUPPL. 1), pages 166-175.
    3. Nathaniel Baum-Snow, 2007. "Did Highways Cause Suburbanization?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 775-805.
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    1. David Berrigan & Andrew L. Dannenberg & Michelle Lee & Kelly Rodgers & Janet R. Wojcik & Behram Wali & Calvin P. Tribby & Ralph Buehler & James F. Sallis & Jennifer D. Roberts & Ann Steedly & Binbin P, 2021. "The 2019 Conference on Health and Active Transportation: Research Needs and Opportunities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Hollis Hutchings & Qiong Zhang & Sue Grady & Lainie Mabe & Ikenna C. Okereke, 2023. "Gentrification and Air Quality in a Large Urban County in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-11, March.
    3. Na’Taki Osborne Jelks & Viniece Jennings & Alessandro Rigolon, 2021. "Green Gentrification and Health: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-23, January.

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