Healthy Highways Coalition

Healthy Highways is a coalition of organizations throughout the State of California and beyond who are interested in re-imagining what our roadways could be. Roadsides traditionally have been throwaway zones where trash and toxic chemicals from automobiles accumulate. We don't put roads in the same category as parks and public open space even though roads are the most public of places of all. Nobody can avoid roads in daily life, we need them to drive to work, ride our bike to the store, and take our bus to school. What happens on roads impacts us all. With the increase in electric vehicles road pollution from oil and gas associated with internal combustion engines is expected to decrease significantly. This could create an opportunity to clean up roadsides and create ecosystem services to benefit all of society. 

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A key step in this vision is to address preventable, unnecessary chemical pesticide (definition includes herbicides) use on our roadsides.  Check out our involvement in the January 2023 California State Assembly Bill 99 that would provide a mechanism for local communities to come to the table with Caltrans to decide how chemicals are used for routine road maintenance.