Growing up on the north side of Charlotte, North Carolina, Anthony Foxx remembers the geography of his childhood being defined by a quiet neighborhood of ranch-style houses, well-kept lawns?and an imposing brick wall at the end of the block.
On the other side of the wall, there ran a high-speed on-ramp that connected the eastbound lanes of Interstate 85 with the southbound lanes of Interstate 77, two highways that cradled the northeast corner of the neighborhood. For Foxx, the wall, the highways, and the hum of traffic blended into the background. He knew nothing different. Over time, he came to understand they weren?t part of the neighborhood at all but more like interloping house guests.
?Those freeways were there to carry people through my neighborhood, but never to my neighborhood,? said Foxx, now Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It wasn?t always that way. When his grandparents purchased the house in 1961, Crestdale Drive connected with surrounding streets. But soon after, fresh transportation dollars provided by the federal government flowed into Charlotte. In support of America?s maturing automobile age, engineers placed the path of new highways and their accessory roads through the established neighborhood. Construction crews amputated Crestdale Drive on one side to make room. It now ends in a small traffic circle.

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Those freeways were there to carry people

through my neighborhood, but never to my neighborhood.

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Next door, a high-speed thor...