Friday Video: What Happens If You Remove a Highway?
For decades, state departments of transportation have treated urban freeways like non-negotiable life support systems that can never be touched without causing instant, apocalyptic gridlock. But as urbanists have argued for years, adding road capacity only induces more driving—and taking pavement away often causes traffic to simply “evaporate.” So what happens when you put that math to the test on a simulated road network?
In his latest video essay, What Happens If You Remove a Highway?, YouTuber Streetcraft uses traffic micro-simulation software to answer that exact question. By building a functional digital street network and literally deleting a core freeway segment directly off the map, the video visualizes how individual vehicle agents adapt in real time — rerouting through local grids, shifting travel choices or evaporating entirely without bringing the city to a standstill.
It’s a crisp, visually compelling breakdown of the mechanics behind traffic evaporation — perfect viewing whether you’re pushing to tear down an urban freeway in your own city or just need proof to win an argument with a car-obsessed relative this Thanksgiving.
