Critics of the I-35 expansion through Austin have rightly called out the highway as a visible legacy of racial segregation and redlining throughout the 20th century. But a study last month by Dell Medical School and University of Texas researchers, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, points to a less visible, but equally pernicious, racial legacy of I-35: disparities in our children’s health.
The study notes that Black and Latinx Austinites of all ages are experiencing a disproportionate number of asthma-related ER visits as compared to white residents. Air pollution from highways and industry, including that from diesel exhaust and road dust, is contributing to this discrepancy. The people living in the neighborhoods closest to I-35 and other major roadways (predominantly people of color) are most impacted by the air pollution and have an increased risk of hospitalization for asthma.
The bottom line: even prior to the planned 22-lane expansion, I-35 is putting the health of children, seniors, and other vulnerable groups in our city at risk. We need to do everything in our power to address and mitigate those disparities, not worsen them. This means halting Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) plans to widen I-35 through our city and finding alternatives that will reduce health inequities and protect all kids’ right to breathe freely in Travis County.
Last spring, Parents’ Climate Community filmed a YouTube documentary titled “The Future of I-35: Parent & Caregiver Voices.” During the process, we heard more about what these health impacts look like on the ground. One mother shared the story of her young son’s mysterious persistent nightly cough, only to realize that traffic emissions from nearby I-35 were to blame. Her family was able to relocate farther away from I-35, and her son’s cough immediately cleared up.
While her story ended on a happy note, what of Austinites who might not be aware of the environmental factors affecting their kids’ asthma, or might not have the resources to relocate? We have a moral obligation to make urban planning and infrastructure choices that protect children’s health, not to place the burden on individual families.
When talking with neighbors these days, I hear a lot of defeat and resignation about stopping the I-35 expansion. They feel it’s too late, or that TxDOT is too powerful to be stopped.
What if, instead, we approached this continued challenge to our children’s health, and to a more equitable, sustainable future for Austin, with imagination and possibility:
- What if we rejected the basic assumption that getting around Austin requires sacrificing the health of kids and seniors in our city?
- What if we agreed to the basic premise that all Austinites have a right to breathe easily?
- And what if we created a healthier and more just vision for the future of I-35 alongside young adults, the ones who will inherit the infrastructure, air, and climate that will result from today’s decision-making?
Our leaders should be asking these questions, but everyday Austinites also have a role to play. One place to start? Visit the Dear Tomorrow project online to find a template for a short letter to a child or teen in your life: what is your vision for the Austin of 2050, and how will you help to realize that vision?
After you’ve written your letter, head to the Rethink35 site to take action on I-35. Write to CAMPO, our metropolitan planning organization, to oppose their part in funding the I-35 expansion. Or donate to join the crowd-funding behind Rethink35’s current lawsuit against TxDOT.
Our kids and teens bring such imagination to our everyday lives. As we get older, we dismiss their dreams for the future as naïve or unrealistic rather than recognizing them for what they are: the seeds of transformation. We owe them the courage to imagine something different than a 22-lane highway through our city center, and something better than the perpetuation of environmental injustices that threaten their well-being today and undermine their right to thrive in the future.
To protect the next generation’s air, health, and climate, we must first learn to rekindle our own imaginations.
McGinnis is the founder of Parents’ Climate Community.
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