BALTIMORE — A longtime plan to rebuild West Baltimore's Route 40 - known as the "Highway to Nowhere" - is now moving forward.
Baltimore's transportation officials have applied for up to $2 million in federal funding to do a formal study on what to do with the 14-block stretch of the "Franklin-Mulberry Expressway," which slices through the heart of West Baltimore but was never finished, due to environmental opposition.
Before its construction, the highway removed 14 contiguous blocks of predominantly Black middle-class families, businesses, and homes. pic.twitter.com/jHZ9YJPEu6
— Baltimore City DOT (@BmoreCityDOT) October 24, 2022
Now the Baltimore Department of Transportation and other leaders say they're planning to heal 50 years of damage done by infrastructure. Mayor Brandon Scott and Congressman Kweisi Mfume note the highway destroyed more than 900 homes and displaced 1,500 people in what was a predominantly Black middle-class area. It had been intended to connect I-70 with interstates 83 and 95, but that never happened.
Community leaders are planning to tear down the highway, in a project called "West Baltimore United." The project was highlighted in a Congressional legislative package last year that targeted 8 misfit projects nationwide.
Demolishing the highway will return about 600 acres to the community for development and green space, said city transportation director Steve Sharkey.
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen says the West Baltimore United project promises to help overturn a highway that "stifled a once-vibrant area, standing in the way of economic growth and opportunity."
Congressman Mfume said in a statement:
“I walked the streets surrounding the ‘Highway to Nowhere’ long before becoming a member of Congress. It is a barrier to progress left behind by indifferent public planning at best and willful neglect at worst. I can recall the vibrant and connected communities that existed before the Highway was thrust upon the City and that is why I am fighting in Congress to right this wrong."
WMAR-2 News put this road In Focusback in May of 2021.
