NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Interstate 664 is a major artery through the city of Newport News and Hampton Roads, but it comes at a cost.
"Unfortunately, we have segregated the southeast community from the downtown community," Newport News Transportation Chief Lisa Simpson said.
She said the city wants to reconnect the two areas in a way that’s safe, comfortable, convenient, and attractive. That's why the city is offering an online survey to gain insight.
“We are looking to get a grant opportunity for a planning study to determine the best location for this crossing," said Simpson.
The city is also implementing the Choice Neighborhood Initiative to help the Southeast Community.
In December of 2022 the ribbon was cut for a large multi-use building with apartments and townhomes, marking the completion of phase one of the initiative.
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Newport News completes phase one of Choice Neighborhood Initiative
Additionally, Virginia U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have announced funding to help reconnect communities in Virginia, including in Norfolk, impacted by interstates.
“There’s this movement starting in the 50s but really picking up steam in the 60s and 70s of building urban interstates," said Christopher Newport University Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropolgy Department Chair Dr. Johnny Finn.
Finn said Interstate 664 was part of a nationwide trend impacting minority neighborhoods to accommodate the growing, primarily white, suburban population.
“The 664, the 264 in Norfolk, the 464 going south to Norfolk were all built in disproportionately black neighborhoods which means that black properties were taken through eminent domain or other means," Finn explained.
He said interstates also created various environmental issues.
"It, immediately because of the increased traffic on those roads, starts to negatively impact the environment for the people who live in close proximity to interstate highways. It increases particulate matter in the air, it increases noise pollution," Finn explained.
While there are people both for and against the idea of interstate removal projects across the country, Finn is glad to see what the city is trying to do.
“I think it’s encouraging that the cities and municipalities around the Hampton roads region are starting to really engage in thinking about how we can rectify some of these long-term economic social and environmental impacts.”
For more information about interstate removals, Finn recommends searching the topic online or reading an article published in 2020 in the Vanderbilt Law Review called White Men's Roads Through Black Men's Homes.
