On a warm afternoon at Cottage Grove Park, just steps away from a basketball court and a cluster of cozy homes, the roar of I-10 was hard to ignore. Kevin Strickland and Joseph Panzarella, cofounders of local advocacy group No Higher, No Wider I-10, sat on a park bench, their voices occasionally drowned out by the hum of traffic and startling sporadic honking. For both men, the noise is personal—it’s the soundtrack of their daily lives in this community, where the freeway has been a bothersome, looming presence for years.

A 2022 proposal from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to elevate and expand sections of I-10 has sparked outrage from residents. Strickland and Panzarella, local community organizers who have worked on other freeway expansion opposition efforts, have lived in the area for years. They ran into each other at a local bar during the Super Bowl last January and began sharing their frustrations with the highway’s proposed changes, with other concerned neighbors at the bar joining the conversation. Just like that, No Higher, No Wider I-10 was born.

“We want to keep I-10 within its footprint,” Panzarella says. “Cap it where it is, and then we’ve got options for park space, housing, businesses—whatever the city wants to put there. We’re reclaiming space that was previously lost.”

It’s the same story that has played out across many US cities since the mid-twentieth century, where highways were driven through urban neighborhoods, carving up and isolating once-thriving areas.

Expand, raise…or cap

TxDOT’s plans for I-10 between Memorial Park and Patterson Street include three main proposals that will impact the Washington Corridor area. The first option is to elevate the freeway, raising it as high as 80 feet, with additional managed lanes. This would raise the current roadways from a low elevation to about the height of a streetlight. The second option would keep the highway at its current level but would expand it, pushing into surrounding neighborhoods and taking homes, businesses, and green space along with it. The third, a so-called “no-build” option, involves rebuilding the existing structure without any significant changes, simply extending the lifespan of the current highway.

For No Higher, No Wider I-10, all three options are nonstarters. The group's focus is on a fourth that TxDOT has yet to embrace: capping the highway instead of raising or widening it. By building a structure over the below-grade sections, they argue, the city could reclaim valuable land for parks, housing, or businesses while keeping the freeway within its current footprint.

The concept of capping a highway might seem radical, but it’s not unprecedented. Cities across the US have embraced this idea, turning noisy, polluted roads into vibrant public spaces. Seattle’s Aubrey Davis Park and the Cap at Union Station in Columbus, Ohio, are just two examples. Panzarella also points out Klyde Warren Park, which was built atop a section of freeway in downtown Dallas and has since become a beloved green space, connecting once-divided neighborhoods.

“What’s super exciting about this park is that it has become so popular in Dallas that they’re going to expand the cap space,” he adds, underscoring that a similar project could transform Houston’s I-10 corridor.

But for No Higher, No Wider, it’s not just about creating parks. It’s about addressing deeper issues: air quality, noise pollution, and the long-term health impacts of living near highways. The group recently partnered with Air Alliance Houston, a nonprofit environmental justice advocacy group, which conducted a study on the public health benefits of capping I-10. They found that the average annual health costs per adult would decrease by 11 percent and the risk of type 2 diabetes would also be reduced, along with other health benefits. The cap would act as a buffer, reducing the number of harmful emissions residents are exposed to, while also encouraging more walking and cycling by creating a safer, more connected environment.

A long road ahead

When No Higher, No Wider I-10 met with TxDOT representatives to present their proposal, “they didn’t flat out say no,” Panzarella says, but he describes the agency’s response as lukewarm.

“TxDOT’s mission is to move cars,” he adds. “It’s difficult for them to envision doing something different. That’s what we’re challenging them to do. We think they’ll get there with enough input from the community and some pressure from our elected leaders, but they’re not used to thinking this way.”

Houstonia asked TxDOT for a comment about the meeting but did not receive a response by press time.

Another potential issue is cost. While the cost of the group’s proposed cap has not yet been determined, TxDOT provided $20 million of the $112 million needed to create Klyde Warren Park, with the rest coming from the city of Dallas, private donations, and the US Department of Transportation. While TxDOT hasn’t yet released a detailed budget for the project near Cottage Grove Park, another plan for sections of I-10 east of this area, close to downtown, currently has a $347 million price tag.

“Any cost impact a cap would have is small compared to what it would bring to the neighborhood, no question,” Strickland says.

The group’s strategy is to gather community support by hosting town halls to connect with locals, share more information on the project, and urge the neighborhood to rally behind them. They are also actively reaching out to local leaders asking for backing, and to push TxDOT in the right direction. Strickland points out that similar battles have been fought before, referencing the ongoing fight against the I-45 expansion. That battle has raged for over a decade, with activists like Stop TxDOT I-45 managing to secure some wins, including concessions to build caps in certain areas.

“It’s a long process,” Strickland admits. “But I’m not going anywhere.”

Keeping up the pressure

No Higher, No Wider I-10 has already secured letters of support from city council members Abbie Kamin, Mario Castillo, and Letitia Plummer, as well as Texas state representatives Ann Johnson, Christina Morales, and Penny Morales Shaw. They’ve also gained backing from a range of community organizations and civic associations, including Houston Public Works, Stop TxDOT I-45, Houston Heights Association, Strong Towns Houston, Timbergrove Manor Neighborhood Association, Walk and Roll Houston, and more, all of which see the cap proposal as a way to both preserve and improve their neighborhoods.

Next up is pushing for action from county commissioners and ultimately congressional representatives. Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones has already invested heavily in improving accessibility in the area, so the group is hopeful that her office will take a particular interest in the alternative proposal. Another crucial moment for the project will be the next public comment period with TxDOT, which is tentatively expected in the spring or summer of next year.

“That’s going to be an important time for us. We need the community to write in, speak up, and say, ‘Hey, we want the cap,” Strickland says, adding that the more voices pushing for this alternative, the more likely TxDOT will take the proposal seriously.

As the pair got ready to leave Cottage Grove Park, the drone of I-10 felt more palpable than ever, as if the freeway itself was reminding them of its presence. Strickland and Panzarella, though, didn’t seem fazed by the noise. They’ve been working against this kind of challenge for years, and they’re in it for the long haul.