Highway Teardown Tour | Enter Here

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Big Dig – “Highway Teardown Tour | Enter Here” (May 20, 2026)
Host: Ian Coss (GBH News)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Big Dig launches a special series: the “Highway Teardown Tour.” Host Ian Coss travels across eleven American cities, exploring the complicated question of what to do with aging urban highways. These roads, built decades ago with a vision for car-centric urban life, are now crumbling and contentious—sparking debates about mobility, equity, urban design, and community health. Through live conversations with residents, policymakers, activists, and journalists, Coss uncovers the diverse and deeply personal ways communities are wrestling with their highway legacies and imagining new futures.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Scene: The Inner Loop (Rochester, NY)

• Margaret’s Story

  • Ian interviews Margaret, a lifelong resident now living in a modern apartment built where the downtown “Inner Loop” highway once ran.
  • Margaret recalls childhood memories:
    • “As a child, we used to go sledding down there while they were digging it out.” (02:27)
  • Surprising perspective: Although enjoying her new neighborhood, Margaret opposes further highway removal.
    • “I liked the Inner Loop. I don't want to take the rest of it out.” (02:58)

• Conflict of Values

  • Margaret’s ambivalence highlights a central dilemma: highways both divide and connect, giving some residents better access while harming others.

2. America’s Highway Bet

• Ian provides historical context:
  • The US massively invested in urban highways about 75 years ago, assuming car travel was the path to urban prosperity.
    • “About 75 years ago, this country made an incredible and history-altering bet that cars are the key to making our cities work.” (03:25)
  • Many of these highways were designed with a 75-year lifespan—meaning cities must now decide whether to rebuild, remove, or transform them.

3. National Problem, Local Solutions

• Cities everywhere face similar infrastructure decisions, but each local situation is deeply unique.
  • “Even if the basic challenge is the same everywhere, the solutions are not the same.” (06:13)
  • Cities, large and small, are grappling with old highways that have physically split neighborhoods, displaced communities, and caused health and environmental issues.
    • Residents share stories:
      • “We sat there in the library and cried.” (07:10, Resident recounting displacement)
      • “How many folks in here have a respiratory issue, have asthma?” (07:17) – Most hands go up, highlighting health effects.

4. The Series: A National Tour

• Format & Purpose:

  • 11 live episodes recorded in Seattle, Portland, Austin, Louisville, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Rochester, Syracuse, Providence, Boston, and New York.
  • Discussions with varying viewpoints—residents, city officials, activists.
    • Trade-offs and emotional stakes are real:
      • “This highway is important to me...It's my livelihood.” (06:28)
      • “The mayor actually approached me saying how stupid of an idea it is.” (06:30)
      • “To me, that feels fraudulent.” (06:38)
      • “I didn't have an opinion because I couldn't understand it. This is a confession.” (06:48)

• Aim:

  • Present a comprehensive, on-the-ground exploration of the “urban highway dilemma,” with stories of loss, resilience, and hope.

5. Upcoming Episodes

• The tour begins with “the thorniest case of all”: New York City’s Brooklyn Queens Expressway.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On highways’ double-edged role:

  • “She likes the neighborhood without a highway in it, but she also likes the highway. So what to do?” (04:10, Ian Coss)

• On the universality of the dilemma:

  • “Every American city is divided by crumbling old highways. Every. Every American city is trying to figure out what to do with them.” (05:17, Ian Coss)

• On community impact:

  • “We sat there in the library and cried.” (07:10, Displaced resident)
  • “How many folks in here have a respiratory issue, have asthma?” (07:17, an onsite question—everyone raises a hand)

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Timeline of Important Segments

• 01:33 – 02:58: Margaret’s interview about the Inner Loop and mixed feelings on highway removal.
• 03:25 – 04:10: Ian describes the 75-year car-centric bet and introduces the central dilemma.
• 06:13 – 07:10: Diverse city perspectives; emotional and practical stakes.
• 07:10 – 07:19: Displacement and health effects voiced by community members.
• 07:40 – 09:00: Series structure and invitation to follow along city by city.

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Tone & Style

• Empathetic, curious, occasionally wry.
• Ian Coss aims for honest engagement with community voices, openly acknowledging the subject’s complexity and personal stakes.
  • “I shouldn’t be surprised, really. I’ve talked to enough people about highways, I should never be surprised.” (03:02)
• The live show format brings immediacy and authenticity to local voices and opinions.

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Summary

In “Highway Teardown Tour | Enter Here,” Ian Coss offers a sharply reported introduction to a season-long exploration of urban highways—their origins, consequences, and the fierce debates over their futures. Featuring real resident voices like Margaret’s, the series promises a richly textured, city-by-city account of America at a crossroads, forcing listeners to consider how infrastructure holds power over our communities, histories, and dreams for the future.

Next episode: New York City and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.

Transcript

[A]

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[C]

Margaret.

[B]

How long have you lived here?

[C]

My whole life.

[B]

Do you remember what used to be right here in front of us?

[C]

Yeah. The Inner Loop.

[B]

Margaret lives in a mid sized American city that has taken the bold step of removing part of its downtown highway, the Inner Loop. Now the city is thinking of removing the rest of the highway. So I came here to see the results for myself. There's a boulevard lined with young trees, bright green crosswalks, a bike path, and this apartment building that Margaret just stepped out of for a smoke. All where there used to be a highway.

[C]

Literally where we're standing. So you would be on the highway.

[B]

At first I would say this conversation with Margaret went more or less how I expected it to go.

[C]

As a matter of fact, as a child we used to go sledding down there while they were digging it out. Yeah.

[B]

And how do you feel about what's here now?

[C]

Oh, it's nice. They fixed it up nice. There's, you know, new apartment buildings and everything.

[B]

But then. Is it worth it?

[C]

Yeah, I think it's worth it. As long as they leave the rest of the Inner Loop where it is.

[B]

You don't want them to take the rest of the road?

[C]

No.

[B]

That surprised me.

[C]

I liked the Inner Loop. I don't want to take the Rest of it out.

[B]

No, I shouldn't be surprised, really. I've talked to enough people about highways, I should never be surprised. But still, the person living in the building where the highway used to be, who has housing because the highway is gone, does not want to remove the highway. What did you like about

[C]

was easy to get to downtown?

[B]

Because it was easy to get downtown. About 75 years ago, this country made an incredible and history altering bet that cars are the key to making our cities work.

[A]

Six lanes, three in each direction. A highway miracle.

[B]

We built highways for them. Beltways, parkways, viaducts, trenches on ramps, off ramps, frontage roads, interchanges. A sprawling network of lanes woven in and around every American city toward its destination. And I'll tip my hand here right away and say, personally I, I think that was a bad bet. Not exactly a hot take these days. But here's the interesting thing. Those highways were built to last about 75 years. About 75 years ago. Which means that right now is the time to revisit that decision and make a new bet on our future. Truly, every city in America is facing some version of that riddle Margaret described to me on her cigarette break. She likes the neighborhood without a highway in it, but she also likes the highway. So what to do? A few years ago, I made a podcast about my own city's effort to reckon with that choice. That story is of course, the first season of this podcast, the Big Dig. If you haven't listened yet, it's right there in the same feed. But after that series came out, I would get emails from listeners in other cities saying, hey, have you heard about this highway in Toronto? Or have you considered doing something about this highway in Baltimore? What about this highway in Toledo? I still get those emails years later and they have reinforced for me just how universal this question is. Every American city is divided by crumbling old highways. Every. Every American city is trying to figure out what to do with them. And I had no way to respond to those listeners until now. Hey, can we confirm we are rolling back there on the recording? All right, My name is Ian Coss and from GBH News, this is the Big Dig Highway Teardown Tour. So excited to be here in Seattle. For the last year I have been traveling the country, very excited to be here in Portland, east to west, north to south, coast and interior, red states and blue states, studying this question of what to do with our urban highways.

[A]

You really want to go back to the trauma, right?

[B]

Because even if the basic challenge is the same everywhere, the solutions are not the same.

[A]

My wife can testify.

[B]

That's what wakes me up at 3am most nights. The solutions are all over the map and they are often contentious. This highway is important to me.

[A]

It's my livelihood.

[B]

The mayor actually approached me saying how stupid of an idea it is. These solutions involve tough trade offs.

[A]

To me, that feels fraudulent.

[B]

Odd alliances. Have any of you even walked in the neighborhood? Uncertain gambles and again, we didn't vote on this. I've been trying to capture that complexity by holding live conversations with residents, policymakers, activists and journalists. I didn't have an opinion because I couldn't understand it. This is a confession and holding them right there in the places where these stories are playing out for the public good. That's what it says in the documents that displaced us. Right where the damage was done.

[C]

We sat there in the library and cried.

[B]

Where neighborhoods and communities were changed forever. How many folks in here have a

[A]

respiratory issue, have asthma?

[B]

Everyone's hand would go up and right where people today are trying to imagine a different future. I'd like to be a little more optimistic here. All right. Anyway, there are 11 episodes total taped live on stage in 11 different cities. Seattle, Portland, Austin, Louisville, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Rochester, Syracuse, Providence, Boston and New York. It's a lot I. I know. And you should feel totally free to skip around in the series. You don't need to listen in order or even listen to every episode. But if you do come along for this whole journey, what you'll get is a tour of what cities all across this country are struggling, grappling and experimenting with when it comes to their urban highways and therefore a tour of what might be possible for the place where you live. Our first stop is in the biggest city of all, looking at one of the thorniest highways of all. It's New York City and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway that is in the feed now. So I'll see you in New York. Hey, I want to make sure that you know this series you're listening to right now is part of an ongoing feed telling stories from the past to help us understand our present. Our first season is all about infrastructure. The second season is about gambling. And we've got more seasons planned. So if you want to stay on top of what the team and I are doing, go ahead and follow or subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen. We've got some really exciting stories coming up and I hope you'll stay with us. Thanks

[C]

from PRX.