Highways Present: Negative Public Health Impacts of

Highways

We also now understand highways to have many negative public health and ecological impacts.

The American Lung Association estimates that as many as 35-40% of all urban populations in North America live near a highway. Risks posed to those living within half of a mile of a highway include risks for serious chronic health conditions, impaired lung function, cardiovascular disease, childhood asthma. Risks posed to those living within 300 meters of a highway also include higher risks for decreased brain function, dementia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in older adults.[4]

In addition to these public health impacts, highways cause stormwater runoff to increase and have a number of ecological downsides. DC’s equity-based approach to resilience planning must be deployed to improve environmental and public health while mitigating negative externalities such as green gentrification.

The area most affected by risks of impaired lung function, increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and the onset childhood asthma is roughly the band within 0.3 miles of the highway.

(American Lung Association, 2022)

Adults living closer to the road—within 300 meters—have higher risk of dementia as well as developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

(Anderson et al., 2011)