The context you're missing, which is being alluded to in many comments, is that when the highways were put in place and they chose to put them through cities in

The context you're missing, which is being alluded to in many comments, is that when the highways were put in place and they chose to put them through cities instead of around them politicians and planners had to choose where they went and what neighborhoods they bisected and displaced. Which neighborhoods do you think bore the brunt of that problem? Where do you think they decided to put the highways that made it harder to reach different parts of the city, by relegating city traffic to specific overpasses and underpasses? Class and race had a lot to do with it in many cases. You've possibly heard of "the wrong side of the tracks". That statement could be considered even more accurate in many modern context if stated as "the wrong side of the highway". The interesting part is why it's apt though, which is what we're talking about. For one take on this, see https://www.history.com/news/interstate-highway-system-infrastructure-construction-segregation https://www.history.com/news/interstate-highway-system-infra...