Freeway Severance Website

Freeways divide neighborhoods, creating barrier effects that make it difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to reach destinations on the other side. Dead-end streets force lengthy detours. Limited crossings concentrate heavy traffic at ramps, where fast-moving vehicles endanger non-drivers. Poor or missing sidewalks, lighting, and bike lanes further worsen conditions, while pedestrian bridges and tunnels often feel unsafe, inaccessible, or unnecessarily circuitous. These severance effects disproportionately impact communities of color, who are more likely to live near freeways in California.

As part of his research on street connectivity and freeway severance, professor Adam Millard-Ball developed a website with interactive maps to explore how freeways divide neighborhoods in the state’s four largest metropolitan regions.