Hartford, New Haven Contemplate Freeway Teardown

Norman Garrick, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the Center for Transportation and Urban Planning at the University of Connecticut, and CNU Board member posted a column today in the Hartford Courant, Healing the Divide: Smart Cities Put People Before Cars.

Dr. Garrick reflects on auto-dependency and what it has done to our cities:

"In essence, much of the U.S. spent the past 60 years building a world where driving is often the only viable option for carrying out the simplest everyday task. We started out with the good intention of giving people more freedom. But we have actually achieved the opposite. We have dismantled efficient, equitable and convenient mass transit and substituted a system where there is no freedom of movement without a car, and no choice except a car."

John Norquist will be joining Garrick and others in Hartford on Tuesday, April 15 at 6 pm at the Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St. Norquist will discuss the benefits experienced in cities that have successfully removed highway segments from their downtowns.

Norquist will then travel to New Haven, speaking on Wednesday, April 16 at 6 p.m. at Career High School, 140 Legion Ave., New Haven, on the city's plan to develop the Route 34 corridor.