The Bottom-Up Revolution is...Residents Fighting Back Against a Highway Project
In this week’s episode of The Bottom-Up Revolution podcast, we hear from two dedicated Strong Towns advocates who are working with their neighbors to fight a highway project in their city of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Adam Trott is a Strong Towns member, an architect and a long-time Erie resident who’s passionate about seeing his city be financially prosperous for all residents. Roland Slade is a newer Erie resident with media chops and neighborhood know-how—who has no less dedication to seeing his city be a place where everyone can thrive, regardless of which neighborhood they live in.
Together, Adam and Roland are part of a community group called Connect Urban Erie, which is fighting a multimillion dollar road expansion project that would run a massive volume of cars along Erie’s waterfront—an area already dominated by a large highway. Adam, Roland and their neighbors have been tirelessly advocating to instead transform this waterfront roadway into a space where people can safely walk and bike, and enjoy the beautiful asset of Lake Erie.
This story is one that will be, unfortunately, familiar to Strong Towns advocates. How many of us can point to existing highways that have tanked the tax value per acre of the traditional neighborhoods they’re running through or squandered the possibilities of something like a beautiful waterfront which should be a community resource for all? How many of us have heard politicians talk about pouring millions of dollars into making those damaging roads ever bigger, and all while they claim there’s no money in the budget for things like sidewalks or parks?
Adam and Roland are fighting the good fight against this road project in their city, with the hopes of creating place where people can travel affordably on foot or bike, where people can easily visit local businesses, and where the city and the lake become prosperous places to spend time, not just to pass through at high speed in a car.
We know you’ll learn a lot from this conversation about Adam and Roland’s work in Erie. Make sure to stay tuned to the end where they share a ton of fantastic pieces of advice for all of you out there who might be working through similar challenges in your city.
Additional Show Notes
Connect Urban Erie instagram (lots of great videos here)
“PennDOT Trying to Solve the Wrong Problem” by Michael Fuhrman (GoErie.com)
“Skip the Highway; Build a Boulevard,” by Lisa Austin and Adam Trott (Erie Reader)
“PennDOT’s bayfront plan fails to prioritize people,” by Maxwell J. Hentosh (GoErie.com)
“Protesting Erie’s Bayfront Expansion,” by Natalee Stinebiser (The Gannon Knight)
Send us your own voicemail about the small (or big) thing you’re doing to make your town stronger. Just record a voice memo on your phone and email it to rachel@strongtowns.org.
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Top photo from Connect Urban Erie Facebook page