Impact of the Interstate Highway System on Miami

This podcast episode explores South Florida's embrace of automobile transportation, beginning with the opening of the Dixie Highway in 1915. The discussion traces the evolution of the region's road network from early state highways to the creation of the federal Interstate Highway System, a transformative public works initiative whose impact has shaped South Florida since construction began in the late 1950s. The story is not solely one of progress and mobility. From the use of eminent domain to clear established neighborhoods to proposals that would have routed Interstate 95 through some of Miami's most treasured green spaces, the highway system came with significant social costs. While the network enabled unprecedented economic growth, regional connectivity, and suburban expansion, many communities bore the burden of its construction. Nowhere was that impact more profound than in Overtown, where large portions of Miami's historic Black community were displaced to make way for the transportation infrastructure that South Floridians rely upon today.