Impacts of a consent decree on “the last urban freeway”: Interstate 105 in Los Angeles county

Abstract

The world of highway building has seen a revolution in the last two decades, as the regulatory environment has experienced a major metamorphosis. The Glenn M. Anderson Freeway- Transitway (1-105), a so-called “sensitive” freeway, escaped being a casualty of the freeway revolt. Novel features of the I-105 are a result of a consent decree that established special institutions and procedures that govern virtually all aspects of the freeway's design and construction. Using an augmented case study approach, we assess how the freeway differs from the project that might have evolved had parties to litigation not been able to resolve their differences. We assess how agencies, groups and individuals view the costs and benefits of the consent decree. We find consistent differences in impact perceptions between transportation agency and local city affiliates. The results shed light on the motivations of local citizens who oppose what outside observers might regard as regionally attractive transportation facilities. Rather than a rigid not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) response, opposition reflects a qualitatively different calculus for weighing environmental and social impact data.