Freeway expansion isn’t just a transportation issue; it’s one of the most overlooked drivers of California’s housing crisis.
It didn’t arrive as a sudden catastrophe; it has been a slow erosion, a quiet form of displacement that has pushed thousands of families from their homes. And it isn’t just a legacy of the past; new projects planned across the state are continuing to displace families.
In San Mateo, for instance, 33 families near the proposed Highway 101/92 expansion are facing forced removal from their homes. Versions of this pattern are unfolding across California: The California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, forces families from their homes to widen freeways, then it demolishes what remains…