Political cartoon drawn by Etta Hulme criticizing highway legislation for its use of eminent domain and impact on other state programs in Texas. Courtesy of the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. 

Freeway Revolts 

Salt Lake City’s west side residents were not the only ones up in arms about the destruction of their homes and neighborhood.  Resistance to interstate construction became popular, especially   during the 1960s in areas where interstate construction targeted communities of color and other marginalized peoples. Planners and engineers deliberately displaced these communities under the guise of slum clearing and economic practicality. In response, residents across the country organized protests to protect their homes. [1]  

Picketers Protesting against the Southern Freeway marching at City Hall April 18, 1961. Notice how the majority of the people pictured here are well-dressed white women. This was a common trend in the successful freeway revolts of the 1960s. Courtesy of the San Francisco History Center. 

San Francisco Embarcadero Freeway 

The first full-fledged freeway revolt happened in San Francisco in 1959. With plans in place to extend the Embarcadero Freeway, cutting through the Golden Gate Park, upscale residential neighborhoods, and business districts in the interest of suburban commuters and central city businesses, citizens began to resist. Neighborhood associations and environmental groups, frequently organized by white women, worked together to get the city to consider alternative solutions.[2] 

Jane Jacobs, pictured here, was a prominent figure in freeway revolt movements in New York and later Toronto. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Washington Square Expressway 

In New York City, Jane Jacobs, a resident of Lower Manhattan and mother of three, used her connections to media and government to sway more mothers to fight for the preservation of Washington Square Park in the 1950s. 

Jacobs, along with members of the Parent-Teacher Association of Public Schools 41 and two other mothers from the region, was able to halt the construction of the expressway.[3]