Who Tore Up the Tracks? · Episode 19 of 24 · 14 min
The Revolt and the Half-Fix: San Francisco and Boston
Some cities did stop these roads. San Francisco went first in 1959 with a resolution that had no legal force and worked anyway, and Boston became the first state to trade an unbuilt Interstate for a subway. But the substitute money came from the general fund, so the Highway Trust Fund lost nothing: the city won, and the fund did not lose a dollar.
Who's who
- Francis W. Sargent+1 more episodeMassachusetts governor who froze Boston expressways and filed the first Interstate withdrawal
- William CremminsCambridge fire chief who marched firemen to the 1969 rally
- Alan AltshulerDirector of the Boston Transportation Planning Review
- Rex WhittonFederal Highway Administrator who described the 1962 planning requirement
- Frederick SalvucciMassachusetts transportation official whose oral history explains the funding trade
- Harry F. Byrd Jr.Senator who warned in 1974 about funding transit operating costs
Where it happens
- San Francisco, California+12 more episodesCity whose supervisors opposed most planned freeways in 1959
- Embarcadero Freeway, San FranciscoStopped at Broadway; demolished from 1991
- Boston, Massachusetts+11 more episodesFirst state to trade an unbuilt Interstate for transit
- Southwest Corridor, BostonRight-of-way where the Orange Line later ran
Timeline
- January 1959San Francisco supervisors pass a resolution opposing most planned freeways
- February 1970Sargent freezes expressway land-taking inside Route 128
- November 1972Boston moratorium made permanent; Inner Belt scrapped
- March 1974Massachusetts files the nation's first Interstate withdrawal
- November 1974National Mass Transportation Assistance Act signed
- 1991Embarcadero Freeway demolition begins
Still debated
Counts of San Francisco's canceled freeways differ, with sources giving six of nine or seven of ten, and the vote date is disputed. The 343 miles withdrawn is a floor, as no national estimate exists of interstate mileage killed by revolts.
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